Welcome to the Beautiful View Podcast, where we encourage you to look for opportunities in your life to see a beautiful view. I'm Candy, and today our golden retriever, Gracie, has decided she's going to be a part of this episode. 

At least for now. 

So we'll see how that goes. 

And I'm Paul. Today is the final episode of season four. At some point, we decided we needed to take a break in the podcast, and calling batches of episodes a season seemed like a good idea. 

Yeah, season one actually ran for 40 episodes. It's no wonder we were tired and needed a break. 

And this season thing is not an exact science at all. So season one was 40. Season 2 was 9 episodes. Season 3 was 7. And now this is the 9th episode. Yeah, so basically when we need a break, we. 

Just take a break. We just call it. It makes sense to me. 

We just call it. Yep. It's really cool to know that this is now our 65th episode. 

That's pretty crazy. 

It's nuts. And it's hard to believe that we've been doing this for three whole years as of like next month. We'll call it three years now. 

Yeah, it's pretty close. Yeah, that's really cool. So today, We thought it would be fun for each one of us to kind of look back and pick three of our top beautiful views from this season. So 6 total. The moments that stuck, the ones that surprised us, and a few that challenged us more than we expected. 

So here we are on our couch in our living room, and we're ready to review these moments with you. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful view.

So before we look back at some of these moments, we wanted to kind of catch you up on what's going on in our lives. It's been a little bit since we've kind of done that little segment of the episodes. Yeah. 

It has been. 

Let's catch up a little bit. 

Yeah, so we were being very realistic when we started out the podcast and we were basically doing this for friends and family so that our family back in Texas can find out what's happening 1200 miles away. Yeah. 

When we finished up season three, we kind of started into season four. The views of our episodes and reels and everything started to increase to the point where we now get thousands of views every month. 

Thousands of views. 

So, and not that it's a huge audience compared to some, but definitely beyond the scope that we ever expected in the beginning when we started this little little beyond friends and family thing. Yeah. So that chit chat kind of back and forth just kind of didn't really seem to be relevant for that audience anymore. So sure. So we cut it. So people who know us might care about what we have to say, what we've been having going on. 

But not everyone will. 

No, the average person could probably care less, obviously. So we dropped that part. But today we're going to pop back in with a life update. 

Yeah. So Around about November of last year, Candy, you took over the role as general manager of River Ridge Brewing here in Bellevue, Iowa. That was pretty soon after we filmed that Unplugged episode from Backbone State Park. So now, It's winter time, it was winter time when you took over the brewery. So it's not like a peak season of the year at all. But that was kind of quite some transition, right? 

It was definitely a transition time. And because winter is typically the slower season there, because you don't have as many tourists through, it's mostly the locals that come in. I felt like I needed to make it not get slow. So I tried to not to. So I tried really hard to plan events and fun things that kind of kept people engaged over that slower season. 

Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. 

And yeah, so we were able to keep some of that momentum over the winter time. And yeah, it was great. So it worked out pretty well. And we ended up having a pretty decent winter. 

Yeah, and we're still not quite back to peak season yet, but We've had some really nice weather here, and so things have already started picking up. 

Yeah, we just had this last weekend. We had our biggest event of the year, the River Ridge Challenge. It's A 5K-ish fun run. And it is a ton of fun. But it's a lot of work to plan it and put it on and all of that. But it went really, really well. I kind of crashed after a really busy week of prepping and everything. So, but no, it's been a lot of fun. 

Our kids. Tyler and Emily are also going through some big moments in their lives. And Tyler is approaching the end of his junior year. 

Yes, he is. Yep. So they've got, kids have prom coming up this weekend. 

They do. Yep. 

So we did, we had a hair fixing night last night, perms and color and haircuts for both Tyler and Haley. So they're going to look sharp at prom. They are going to look sharp. But we've got a busy summer season coming up. They both work for me at the brewery. They do. 

Yeah. 

I don't know if they quite understand what's ahead of them there, but. 

They're going to definitely be busy. 

Yeah. 

Emily has been working hard and she's looking forward to some new opportunities ahead. 

Yeah, she is a hard worker and we're just so proud of the young lady that she's become. Yeah. 

So at some point, she said that she wanted to learn how to use power tools. Now, when we were on the road, I found every opportunity that I could for Tyler to help me, you know, change fuel filters, do all different kinds of things. And so now, Tyler's able to change the oil on his, you know, on the car. And But I never thought that Emily would ever be all that interesting, and I don't think she was. 

Yeah, no, not in that season. 

But suddenly now she wanted to learn power tools. So we have all of these picnic tables at the brewery that have been sitting out all winter, and they needed to have all the screws replaced in them. So we literally had probably 550 screws to replace and some holes to re-drill and all that kind of stuff. So that was kind of a job. It was a job and it was just a great opportunity for her to use three different cordless power tools and just do the same thing over and over again to kind of get the feel for it. And she did a fantastic job. Yeah, she really enjoyed that. 

Awesome. And you've also been working on the truck a lot. I have. 

Yeah, so I think we've said this before, but like during the winter time, we went out there and twice there was a puddle of engine oil underneath the truck and a puddle of hydraulic fluid. So got that fixed. And so that meant we were able to take our first camping trip of the season. You did. Yay. 

And you know what? We were local camping. And local camping is always a little bit bittersweet to me because although it's lovely to be out camping, I'm still really close to the brewery. A little too close. A little too close sometimes. But I knew last week was that was kind of a crazy week to choose to go camping because it was full on prep mode for the challenge and all of that. So, but we did get to enjoy a couple of campfires, I think. So, I hooked out a couple of times. So, we had a good time. Yeah, it was good. It was nice. It was nice to just do like a shake down, make sure everything works. 

Make sure everything works. Yeah, and it was just so nice to be out in nature again. So with patio season underway and camping season underway, it's time to wrap things up for the season. So what better way to do that than to reflect on the topics we've covered over the last four months? 

Yeah. Okay, so we're going to watch some of our favorite clips from this season together. 

Yes. 

These are moments that stood out, really made us think or challenged us along the way. Some of them were actually some of the more popular reels that we put out as well. So obviously, you know, our listeners thought that they were good too. So. 

Yeah, it struck a chord. 

Yeah. I say all the time that writing and recording these podcasts and episodes is a great exercise for us as a couple. 

It really is. 

Yeah. Sometimes they really stretch us to tackle subjects that we probably wouldn't talk about under normal circumstances in our normal day-to-day conversations. 

Yeah, I think what the deal is that I think we assume we know what the other person is thinking about the topic, and so it kind of goes unspoken. But oftentimes we arrive at a conclusion that neither one of us would have come up with. 

Yeah, I think that's probably true. I also think that it's rare that 24 plus years into our marriage that we bring up big, deep conversations aside from this podcast preparation. 

Yeah. 

Most, we're busy. We are. Most of our conversations are just kind of like about what's happening. 

What's happening next? 

Like right now. 

Yeah, what happened today. Yep. 

But if we don't make time for these big conversations, then they don't happen. 

Right, And so I think that's why communication in marriage is so important. So let's just jump into the first clip. 

Okay. 

And so you ready? 

Okay, let's go. 

Let's go. 

But as a couple, I remember a purchase that you and I made in our early, early days where there's a reason that we should not be allowed to go to like home and garden shows. 

RV shows, RV shows, anything like that. Because we're suckers. 

Yeah, we bought ourselves a hot tub. 

Yep, we did. 

For our brand new house. Just why not? We needed a hot tub. We didn't have any houses behind us at that point. So it was easy for the company to get it into. 

Yes. They had to go around the land in the back and like. 

Just took a part of the fence down and put it in. 

Took a fence down, put it in the back. 

When we left, when we moved from that house though, the hot tub stayed. So if it ever broke, I don't know how they were getting it out of there because there was then a house behind. 

Yeah, no way. 

It was like back-to-back. So That's so funny. And I had not thought about that in years. I mean, that was like literally right after we were married and bought our first home together. And it was a new construction. 

It was. 

So we literally just started from scratch with that house. 

And we needed a hot tub. 

We needed a hot tub. So yeah, so that was one of those just crazy things. 

Yeah, And that was from the episode questions. We're not nervous. about, but totally are. So what was the idea behind that episode? 

Well, that was the one where our daughter Emily asked us a bunch of questions about crazy things we did or decisions we made along the way in our kind of younger years. Most of them were. It was just kind of fun to think back on some of that stuff that we hadn't thought about in years. 

Yeah, that house was, that was our first home that we lived in after renting an apartment. And we loved that house. It was It was just a cool place to move into. 

We started our family there. 

We did, and so anyway, just a few, I guess a few weeks ago now, our friends Randy and Sandy... they invited us to like a home and garden show. 

Oh yeah, on Valentine's Day. 

On Valentine's Day, that's right. And we're like, are there going to be any hot tubs there? I mean, because if there are, we probably shouldn't go. So that was pretty funny. 

That is funny. Okay, so this next clip is from episode one called Looking Back, Leaning Forward, where we talk about our word of the year from last year, from 2025. 

Okay, you press play this time. 

Okay. The verse we anchored to was in John 15. It says, abide in me and I in you. At the beginning of the year, I thought abiding would feel very peaceful, gentle, restful, still. I envision like being held or being comforted. 

Okay, but the reality was, in some ways, our ability to abide was actually being tested. 

So tested. 

Yes. 

There were moments this past year where everything in me wanted to quit, fix, push, strive or control outcomes. 

And the word abide means stay put. Don't run away, stay connected, stay prayerful, stay surrendered, especially when the answers were not immediate. 

Yeah, one thing I noticed is that abiding did not remove the hard things. It did change how I walked through them. 

Yes, it shifted the question from how do we get through this to Who are we staying connected to while we go through this? 

Yeah, in John 15, 5, Jesus states, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me, you can do nothing. And at times I contemplated, how do I reconnect to that vine? There were seasons where everything just got to be too much. Productivity slowed, plans changed, expectations had to loosen. And that was uncomfortable for me. In fact, I pretty much came to the end of what I had to give. 

Yeah, there was a point where you just didn't have anything left. Like I have never seen you like that before. 

It was pretty bad. 

And that was when we packed up the RV and the truck and we got out of town for a few days. And that was from the episode, Looking Back, Leaning Forward, the first episode of the season. 

It was, it's always really interesting to look back on the year and our word of the year and see how it played out over the year. Because usually when we start the year with this word, you kind of have one thing in your mind about how it's going to go. Like I said in that little clip, you know, it felt soft and comforting and, you know, and sweet and all of those things. And I longed for that. but really what it meant was to stay connected to the vine, to, we were gonna go through some really hard, tough times. And it just, it meant something different at the end of the year than I thought it meant at the beginning of the year. And it seems like almost every time that's the case. It's that way. 

Yeah. And I know that I've thought about that word abide several times, even over the past few months, because there's tends to be some overlap between one year and the next. 

Yeah, they kind of lead one into the next a lot of times. And I kind of like for them to do that because I want it to carry on. Like just because it's a new year doesn't mean that we throw out that old word, you know? 

Sure. 

It kind of max out paths forward. 

So I think that's cool. 

That's what I love most about him, I think. 

Okay, time for our next clip. 

Okay. 

So after making peace with the loss of my father, I've gone through quite a bit of transformation over the last few years and refocused my energy and realized that I was for a while trying to, go bottom up. I was trying to be a good friend, a good teacher, then maybe a good father, then maybe a good husband. And at the end, if I could be a good Christian too, that would be good at times of difficulty. But when I was able to flip that around and go top down, and be like, if I can get my life right with God, if I can get my walk with Jesus right, then that's going to make me a better husband. And if I can be a better husband, I'm going to see God in my children, and I'm going to treat them with grace, and I'm going to be slow to anger, quick to understanding, and I'm going to be a better father. And if I can be the best father that I can be, I'm going to be a pretty darn good teacher. And I'm going to, even if they're 10, 15 years older than my kids, I'm going to be able to positively impact their lives. And if I can be good in my 9 to 5, or 8 to 3, or whatever, I can be be good in my day job, then I can be a better friend. I can connect better with our customers and our co-workers at the brewery. I can positively market our amazing little town, our amazing settings, our amazing schools, our close-knit family-like community. And I can positively project that to people that I come into contact with, whether they're my closest friends or people that just met me. 

Yeah. 

So that was from an episode where we did an interview with our friend Jim, right here in our living room, building a life that matters. 

Yeah, the natural thing for most of us guys is to kind of draw our identities from our careers. You know, we always ask each other, well, what do you do for work? And Jim understands that's not the way to look at things. And it takes some humility and it really is, it takes some effort to think of things the correct way around. But that does make us better husbands and better dads. So I love what you had to say there. 

Sure. I think that's a great principle for everyone. God first, family second, everything else will follow if you're being led from the top down. 

Absolutely. We began season four at the beginning of the year. So we were just coming into our anniversary, Valentine's Day and all of that. A lot of love. A lot of love. So the beginning of the season had a lot of love content in the episode. So let's play the next clip. 

Okay. Okay, so the wildest, most unexpected thing I did in my late teens or early 20s. Well, for me, I think probably it was like meeting guys on the internet. 

That was the wildest crazy thing for you. 

Yeah, because you talk to these people and back then you have to remember like that was not the normal thing to do. 

No, it was, it was out there. 

Nowadays, yeah, you swipe and you do all the things. I don't know what these young kids do, but. 

And the older kids too. 

Yeah, and the older kids apparently. But yeah, I mean that was like pioneer days of talking to people on the internet. And I had like, internet boyfriends and stuff. 

Yeah, and you were a little like church girl. 

I was, yeah. So I met someone else in person before I met you in person that I had met on the internet. So that was fine. We still are friends. 

Yeah. 

So, but yeah, I would say that was probably, that was pretty wild back then. 

It was. And I had not met anyone on the internet before you. 

Yeah. 

Now my A roommate had, and I was actually, and I think I've told the story before, but I was making fun of him for being involved in that, and there you were in Texas doing the same thing, right? 

Yeah, I mean, that was pretty wild back then, if you think about it. Like, I mean, in today's society, not so wild, but back 25 plus years ago. 

Oh, that was. 

I mean, to meet someone in person that you had talked to on the internet when they And the internet was still so scary. And. 

Do you remember breaking the news to your family and church friends when it was like I was coming over? So you had to break the news and say like, oh, I've got a friend of mine. 

My internet boyfriend is coming over. No, we weren't, you weren't my boyfriend at that point. No. You were just a friend. 

I mean, I considered that I was. 

No, I know. 

I just had to convince you about it. But yeah, but you had to go around and like tell everyone. A sort of prepared way. 

My friend from England is coming over. He talks really cool. 

That was funny. And just one thing. What's with the beard? I mean... 

Yeah. That kind of got out of hand. 

It got totally out of control. I mean, I think I was in full on like winter hibernation mode or something. 

Turned into a mountain man. 

I don't know what happened there, but anyways. 

It is what it is. 

And that leads us into the next clip, which was from our episode, Dear Valentine, which was episode 3. And that's where we asked each other questions about our relationship. We wrote them down on pieces of paper and put them in a basket and then we drew the questions Out of the basket at random, so let's take a look at this one. Okay, when have you felt most chosen by me? 

Oh, that's an easy one. 

Yeah, well, you wrote this, so you probably had something in mind. 

Well... I mean, I think when you came across here with two suitcases in hand from England to marry me. 

With everything I owned. 

I mean, I feel like that's when I felt the most chosen. And I mean, I have felt that over and over again, though, through the years when people say, so what brought you here? And you're like, her? Yeah. So yeah. So that, yeah. 

Absolutely. I'd do it all over again. 

You would. 

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Definitely. For sure. 

Yeah. That's a big ask for someone to leave everything that they know and come across. 

Yeah. 

You know, move to a different country with everything that they... 

Yeah. And there are plenty of reasons I can think of why, you know, a fresh start for me was attractive. But still, when it came down to the reality of actually doing that and stepping away from things, knowing I couldn't go back to them. 

Yeah. 

That was, I remember packing up my stuff and then boxing up things and giving things away and then walking out of the rental house that I was in at the time and being like, I'm not going, I'm not going back there. Yeah. That's it. So I had a bit of a weird feeling. And driving away from Biddeford in North Devon to jump on a train and go to London and then jump on a plane. And that was... 

Yeah. I definitely felt chosen. 

Yeah, it's that's one of the things I really love about here in Bellevue. I do remember leaving Biddeford in North Devon. And it's just such a similar sort of vibe here. It's like the American version of Biddeford. The Midwest version for sure. But yeah, we're right on the river here. And there it was an estuary, so it was coming in from the ocean. And so the river was pretty wide at that spot, just like it is here for the Mississippi. And actually, because the dam is here in Bellevue, the river's kind of a little bit narrower than the natural Mississippi flows. And so very, very similar vibe. And there's the history here, the old buildings and so on. 

Yeah, no, that episode was a fun episode because we, neither one of us knew what question was coming up next. So it was just kind of like, okay. 

We kind of had in mind what questions there were and sort of what we were going to say, but then we didn't know which one of us was going to get the questions. 

Right. No, it was fun. 

Like when I think about the last 24 years, coming up 25, in fact, Cinco de Mayo, which is just in just a few days from when we record this, is our 25th anniversary of our first meeting in person at Midland International Airport. 

It is. 

In the middle of West Texas, which I'm pointing out how similar Bellevue is because West Texas is totally not similar to either. So, but yeah, 20, 25 years since what I'm describing there when packed up everything and And jumped on a plane to come over here. 

Yeah, that's wild, isn't it? 

Is wild. Very wild. Yeah. 

All right, so this next clip is from an episode about a topic we've been trying to talk about for years. 

Yes. 

But couldn't find a way to do that and keep our focus on a beautiful view. 

On a beautiful view, yeah. 

So this next clip is from the episode Deconstructing Without Destroying. 

Okay. 

And sometimes people think they're deconstructing their faith when what they're actually doing is untangling their faith from church culture. 

Yes. 

I feel like that's exactly what we did. When we left Church World back in 2015, there was a lot of untangling that needed to happen. 

Yeah, we were teasing out the tangles. 

That's a good way to put it. That's such an important distinction. Faith versus church culture. 

Yes. 

Because there are things that are absolutely foundational to the Christian faith. The gospel, who Jesus is and the authority of Scripture. 

And please notice that we will always go back to these foundations with what we're talking about today. 

Yeah. 

Then there are other things that churches have developed over time that aren't necessarily wrong, but they're just not the same thing as the gospel. 

Yeah, things like worship style, church traditions, denominational preferences, sometimes even expectations about how church should look. 

Yes. And when people start questioning these things, it can feel uncomfortable, especially if they grew up thinking that was the only way to do church. 

I think most people who have walked with God for any length of time eventually come across questions like these. 

Yes, and asking those questions doesn't mean someone is losing their faith. If anything, it can actually mean the opposite. 

Yeah. 

It can mean that they care deeply enough about their faith to really examine it and make sure that what they they believe is grounded in truth. 

That was absolutely the case for me. And in fact, that process can actually strengthen someone's relationship with God. 

So maybe a helpful way to look at it is the difference between healthy deconstruction and destructive deconstruction. 

Yes, so healthy deconstruction asks questions but keeps searching for truth. It's willing to go back to scripture to seek wise counsel and rebuild from a strong foundation. On the other hand, destructive deconstruction sometimes throws everything out without taking the time to rebuild anything in its place. It would be like you taking the truck apart and leaving it that way so that we can never drive it again. 

Yeah, like we technically still own a truck, but it's just in like a pile of Ziploc bags and boxes in the shop. Yeah, that's That episode was contained content that was difficult for us, like you said. 

Yeah, we put that one off for a long time. We talked about doing it multiple times before, but it just, we couldn't quite find the beautiful view yet. So I think we got there in the end. 

I remember a friend once told me, he was a pastor, and he told me that sometimes the wounds that are caused in this area can leave scars. And there's like, there's that stage where the wound is healed and it has developed into a scar, but it's still tender. And you start like poking at that scar and it's like, yeah, that still hurts a little. So, but I think we finally got to the point where the scar has healed enough that we can say, hey, look, this is what happened here, but it doesn't really have that much effect. Interesting enough, I just realized this morning that there's another milestone. We're just coming up on 25 years since we first met. But now in April, in mid-April, this is 12 years since we left full-time ministry, or I left full-time ministry. You left full-time ministry just after me. And here we are, full-time ministry. It's different. Full-time church ministry. So it's been 12 years. And before that, I was in ministry for 12 years. So pretty soon after I moved to Texas, I got hired on the church staff there in San Angelo. And so from that point to when we left was 12 years, and now it's been 12 years since we left. So I've been out of it as long as we were in it. 

Yeah, that's wild, isn't it? 

Isn't that crazy? 

Yeah. I think what I'm realizing is just how quickly time passes talking about all of this stuff. It's crazy. 

Yeah, it's kind of nuts. Okay, so I want to play one more clip. 

Okay. 

And I want to play this one. I know it's an extra one. 

Okay. 

But I want to play this one because it's one of my favorites, my all-time favorites from season four. You ready? 

Okay. It was a tree that we came across back in one of the summers that we were at Camp Chautauqua in Ohio. And we went for a little walk kind of back in the forest area, back behind where we were staying. And this tree had fallen over. It was laying on its side, probably in a storm or something, either the wind or the ground was too wet or something. But it was completely on its side. But the thing that caught my attention was The roots. 

The roots. 

So this tree was on its side. It was still rooted on the bottom side. 

Yes. 

But the roots from the top had grown over and put themselves back in the ground. Like they found their way back to the ground. 

Isn't that crazy? 

And the tree was still, it was still alive. It still was producing leaves, which it was just, It was bizarre, but it was also beautiful too. Yeah. That picture will forever stick in my mind because the time that we were at in our lives in that season, we were both really struggling with our mental health. We were. It was just that tree just completely stopped me in my tracks and just really spoke to my heart that day. Against all odds, it had found a way to thrive. And I just, I love that. Its roots dug deeper. It found the nourishment that it needed from the water down underground, and it was still able to be productive. And I just love that. Marriage is kind of like that tree. We face many hard times in our 24 years of marriage. Yes, we have. We've both struggled with mental health. with loss. But both of us, through all the trauma, the heartache, we stayed rooted in the word and committed to our marriage. So even when the storms came and knocked us over, knocked us sideways, our roots sunk deeper and sustained us. 

Yes. 

For me, being rooted in love means that love isn't just something that we feel. It's something much deeper than that. I love that you picked that clip. That was such an impactful moment when we came across that tree. It just, it was one of those things that I was like, when I saw it, I was, and all of the things dawned on me from the roots in the ground to the roots reaching over into the ground. to the leaves growing up top. I was like, that's like a sermon illustration in that, but it all, it just spoke to my heart and encouraged me that day. And yeah. 

It was just like that tree knew what state it was in. 

Yeah. 

And I can't remember the exact phrase, but like the path to healing starts with, you know, recognizing your own, where you're at. 

Yeah. 

Write in the comments what the right phrase is, but you know what I mean. But so the tree, it's like it knew that it had fallen over and just was fighting for all it's worth to continue to produce leaves and to stay alive. 

Yeah. 

And I mean, how does... Does it know? How does it know, if I just stretch my roots down here, I can keep going? 

Yeah, and that's so true for us too. I mean, every time we have been through a difficult situation, when we just... I mean, we've been uprooted a few times. And you have to, you really have to dig deep in those moments and make sure that you get your roots back down into that foundation again to be able to get the nourishment that you need to build yourself back up to be able to produce. fruit or whatever again. So. 

And I mean, who knows, that tree might be growing again. I mean, it looked wacky. Yeah. 

I mean, it had just, it was just early springtime when we found it. So it had just started kind of producing some of those leaves. So that would be really interesting to go back and see where we find it. probably looks totally different now. Creating this podcast is truly a labor of love. 

Yes, it is. And we have seen the way that God has worked in our lives and in the lives of our friends and neighbors, teaching us to trust Him and to stay rooted in Him, in love, through the whole of our lives. 

The experiences and challenges that we have had are not uncommon. Many of you have faced or are facing similar things. And at the end of the day, we hope that the conversations that we have on this podcast help you wherever you're at. 

Some of these lessons are hard to learn. Even now, there are tough seasons that we're going through that we're not ready to talk about. 

Yep, but through our lives, we've learned that we will get to the other side of those hard times. 

Yes. 

And we will see God's hand in them. Sometimes it just takes looking back on things to be able to see that. We will get to see the beautiful view on the other side, and then we will share that view with you. 

Yes. 

Thank you for joining us today. Our hope is always to inspire and encourage our listeners. Today we got to share just a few moments from the conversations we had in this season. And there are so many more. 

Yeah, like 64 episodes. That's so crazy. Here's our simple challenge for you this week. Take one struggle that you're going through right now and ask yourself, what might the beautiful view look like on the other side of this? 

Yeah, allow yourself to imagine possible positive outcomes instead of focusing and dwelling on the negative. These situations can be tough, but if you trust the process, you'll come to realize that these things do pass And there will be a time when they're just a memory. 

Yes, and if you frame that memory within the context of a lesson well learned and step forward in life, then you're well on your way toward a brighter future. 

That's right. Thank you for being here with us today. If this episode or any episode through this season encouraged you, we'd love for you to share it with your friends and family, someone else that it might uplift as well. And as always, thank you for being a part of this community. We're grateful you're here and we're honored to walk this journey with you. 

If you like what we do here at the Beautiful View Podcast, you can show your appreciation by becoming a supporting member for only $5 a month. Your support will continue to provide for our production costs. The link for you to sign up is in our show notes. 

We'll continue to post clips from various episodes over the summer, so be sure to follow Beautiful View Podcasts on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. Those links are in our show notes. 

So this is usually the place where I ask you, so what's it going to be next time? 

Yeah. 

But neither of us know the answers to that, right? 

Yeah, we don't know the answers. We have known for some time that this year is going to be, dare I say, busy. So yeah. 

Yeah, so we have said for a while now that 2026 is is going to be the year that we need to put our heads down and just get on with it. 

Yeah, So our word for this year is called. We love the community we are in here in Bellevue, Iowa, and we really feel like we are called to serve here. I am called in this season to serve our community through my job at River Ridge Brewing, serve our staff, our community. 

Yes, and I am called to serve my wife, so I'm going to be right there beside you. 

Yes, and you are. 

And I'm currently meeting every week with a group of guys, so I'm hoping that we continue to do that. We're studying the Bible together, looking at characters in the Bible. Godly men is our Bible study, so we're hoping to continue that. through the summer. 

That's awesome. 

Yeah. 

And I'm hoping to get to make a trip back to Texas at some point to visit family and to get a few more camping trips in because they just fill my cup. 

Yep. 

We will be busy, but I am going to need to take some breaks every once in a while. 

Yes. And we don't have any firm plans as yet as to when the new season's going to kick off. 

Yeah, but we'll keep you posted. It'll probably be in the fall or something after we kind of get through the crazy summer months. 

Right. 

But I do know when we start getting ideas, what ends up happening is I open up my notes app and I start... taking notes, and then we've got ideas for the next season. So that's what we'll do. 

I come up with some ideas too, and then I usually say, can you add this one to the notes app? 

Yeah, so it's all in one place. 

It's all in one place. So once we start getting a list of those together, then we'll know it's time to start again. Yeah, Thanks again for joining us. We hope you have a great summer, and remember to always keep an eye open for opportunities in life to see a beautiful view. 

Bye. 

Bye.