Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey friends, Good Morning, Second hour show five thousand, two
hundred and thirty five of The Morning Show with Preston Scottbot.
Who's County right, Jose over there in Studio one A.
I am here in Studio one B, and it is Monday,
September the sixteenth. If you're an FSU fan, it's okay
to wear black. I get it. I understand. We'll we'll
(00:22):
try to help with that next hour because Misery does
a love company, and so Iris Chaffelle will join us
next hour. Doctor Joe Cams later on this hour, but
we will talk this half hour about team challenge, and
we'll get to the specifics of why we're going to
have that conversation a little later. But joining me in
studio is Danny Francis. Danny is here with me. He
(00:44):
works with ADDIE's Land and Tree Service. For those of
you that may or may not know, they're a client
of mine, I've worked with John Boseman. They personally have
done work for me at my home multiple times over
the years. And I love John. I love the work
that he does, love how he does it, I love
the type of person he is and and he works
with John and we found out just I didn't know
(01:08):
until just recently that you worked with John, but you
and I go to the same church.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
How you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Good good? I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
No, it's my pleasure. We were just talking in the
break teen Challenge. A lot of people don't know about it.
But let's before we kind of get to teen challenge,
the purpose that it serves and its role in your life,
a little snapshot just kind of where you're from and
how you ended up in Tallahassee, Florida.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Okay, So I'm from Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I grew up there my whole life, but I went
to Florida State, so I also have family in Tallahassee.
So Tallahassee's been a place I've been coming up to
since I was a young kid.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Is that what drew you to Tallahassee to go to
Florida State? That you had some family up here or
was there some other was what drew you here?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So my parents went to Florida State as well, So
I've been a Florida State fan watching football game doctrin.
That's right, that's right. Yeah, So that's kind of part
of it. And I had some family up here. Plus
I just thought it was a great opportunity. So that's
what brought me up here for college.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Tell me a little bit about kind of the the
nuts and bolts of growing up, being in school and
just sort of where your path began.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
To deviate just a little bit.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Okay, So I went to Catholic school kindergarten through eighth grade,
and like we already kind of talked about, I knew.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
God and.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
I had a lot of the knowledge that you get
in Catholic school, but I never really grasped the understanding
of the relationship Jesus wants us to have with them.
So in high school, I went to public school and
I slowly kind of started to deviate away from him.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Can you look back and kind of pinpoint what that
was that maybe just started to pull you. Was it
kind of the peer groups in the frames or what
was it? Partly that and uh, partly I just I
never really got it. I Uh, I thought the Christian
life was about, you know, living this life where you
(03:12):
have to follow all these rules, and I never really
understood the love, the grace and the mercy God has
for us and how much we need that in our lives.
So I kind of deviated away from him in high school,
and at that time I started to start to look
for happiness and gratify, gratification and some of the some
(03:33):
of the wrong areas of life. And it takes, you know,
going through those experiences and not being gratified right time
after time. You know. I've had conversations like this over
the years, because I was a vacational pastor for about
twenty years and with a lot of those years spent
with young people high school, college age. And one of
(03:55):
the things that I remember in a lot of conversations
with people that struggled with different kinds of addictions, whether
it's substance or something online. At the time, it wasn't online,
it was in magazines or in movies. That kind of
thing is you always start out feeling like you've got
control of it.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Is that is that sort of where it starts for you? You
you've got this.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yes, And I wouldn't say that like I was a
person that just failed immediately right away. Yeah, And I
kind of feel like, you know, I was, I was
good at things, I was good at sports, and I
relied on myself for all that, and it took a lot,
a lot of times of of messing stuff up over
(04:37):
over my high school and college years and then furthermore
even even more and when I started to experiment, experiment
with all the wrong things, sure to learn that I
needed something more.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
We're gonna talk more with Danny about that. That that
road that you travel, it's kind of funny. I've described
it to people as a crack in the windshield that
you get this little tiny little chip or c and
you think, ah, it's no big deal. I got this,
and then just life the running through the road, it
just becomes a bigger crack, and a bigger crack, and
then it's spider veins out. Next thing you know, you
(05:11):
winshield caves in. And you thought you had it under
control from the very beginning, but it's not the way
it works. More to come here on the Morning Show
with Preston Scott, Danny Francis with me in studio. He
(05:33):
works with ADDIE's Tree Service. But more importantly, we're talking
about his story, and that's the thing. Everybody's story. It's
kind of it's and you've been around this now enough
and we were just talking about you just you're sharing
your testimony with different groups of people in different parts
of the world, even and it's interesting. Everyone has a
(05:53):
unique story, but there are some real finite commonalities between
those stories.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yes, for you, You're you're in high school, You're starting
to make questionable choices, and then you end up at
Florida State University. Tell us about what happened there.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
So when I got here to Florida State and Telassie,
it started off as a great opportunity.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I joined a fraternity.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Was that a good or bad decision? Looking back?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
It could have been a good decision, Okay, But it
turned out to maybe not be a good decision for me. Okay,
it just exposed me to more more time to kind
of party. You can use it as a great opportunity
for networking and getting to know people, but it just
allowed me to party a little more. Okay at the time,
(06:46):
I guess I didn't need that all right, So I started,
you know, drinking and partying a lot in college and
I ended up not graduating. I left Florida State after
three years. What was your major business administration?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Okay, So were your parents aware of the struggles you
were having or I mean kind of give me a
snapshot of what was going on with common dad.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
They were aware. I don't think it was. I mean,
in college, the the partying's kind of normal. I think
I kind of hit a little bit the extremity of
it at times. But it wasn't always like that, you know.
It kind of went back and forth, like I were you.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Putting Were you putting on a front for mom and Dad?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Sometimes?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yes, Okay, definitely, because that's part of the deal here,
isn't it.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
That's right, That's right.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
And as I got older and I moved back home
to Saint Pete, and I.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Mean I held jobs for a long time.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It wasn't It took me many years before it got
out of control.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
But like you.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Said, putting on that front to my parents, it turned into,
you know, ten years down the road where I didn't
have a great relationship with them because a lot of
times I didn't want to be around them because then
you know, you're you're having to hide things. Once it
got into the drugs, then that so there was two
versions of you pretty much, yes, kind of the the
(08:10):
Danny and the Daniel or the Dan and the Dan Danny,
you know what I mean? Yeah, Yes, Okay, So when
I was in my early thirties, I got into a
car accident and I was prescribed pain pills and that's
kind of where things really took a bad path, and
(08:30):
that's what eventually brought me to teen.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Challenge was trying to get get help with that.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Was it oxy codone?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
What was it? It was?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yes, it was oxy codone from a doctor, and then
not from a doctor, you know, then.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
You find your sources.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
That's right, And uh, I just I just went down
a bad path.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Did you have this feeling as you when was there
an awareness that you were addicted to these pain pills.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Within months? Really? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
So it's a great feeling to be honest with you
at first, but then when you don't have them and
you need them, I mean, talk about misery. That's one
of the most painful. You know, needing something that you
either don't have or and then all of a sudden
you're relying on it. It's weird and you're chasing it. Yes,
(09:25):
of course, because that's what you need to but you
need to feel better, right at least that's what you
tell yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, he's got a little bit of a smile on
his face because he's looking back. I can see it
on his face. But we're going to talk about that
turning point, because the turning point is a really good one.
And we're going to tell you about the role that
a group called Team Challenge played in all of this,
and then we're going to talk about how you can
play a role in that group Team Challenge fun, how
(09:53):
that works, isn't it sixteen passed the hour Danny Francis
with me in studio here in the Morning Show with
Preston Scott. All right, we're back Danny Francis with me
from ADDIE's Land in Tree Service. But we're really talking
(10:15):
about his life, journey and his testimony. That's a very
direct way of putting it. And you know, those of
you that know anything about God know, you know you
overcome in life by the blood of Jesus and the
word of our testimony. And that's the good and the bad.
You know, we sometimes think that the bad stuff is oh,
don't talk about no, no, no, no. That stuff is
(10:38):
important because it shows the power of God in your life.
You're still here, no matter what you've gone through, You're
still here, and no matter what you're going through, you're
still here. You've got a chance to change that with
the help of God and Danny. What was the point
for you that you realized you needed to do something?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
So I believe God had to step been in my life.
I went to teen Challenge for six months in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
It was kind of a.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I was in a bad spot and my parents went
I kind of did it to appease them.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
I didn't finish the program. I did about six months.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
And I went back home and I had a job
waiting for me, and I did really well for about
a year or two. But that time I spent in
teen Challenge the first time I didn't actually get why
I was there. So in twenty twenty one, I got
arrested and teen Challenge was my option.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Was it part of a diversion program? Basically pretty much.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
It was a way to not have to spend a
bunch of time in prison. I did do some time
in jail, and I believe God allowed me to lose
my freedom so I could have some time away from
what I was doing out in the world.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Oh, the irony of ironies. Lose your freedom to gain
your freedom.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
So in in jail, I Uh, I started reading my
Bible again. I was really, uh seeking something.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Better for my life. I was unhealthy.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I started working out again in there, and uh, it
actually didn't look like they were going to allow me
to get teen Challenge two to kind of avoid my
all the time I was gonna have to do. But
with five months into jail, I was ready to take
like a two or three year sentence, and my lawyer
(12:35):
came to me and said that, you know, out of nowhere,
they're gonna they're going to allow you to do a
year and teen challenge. I mean, I had a first
and second degree felony. They were gonna have hold.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
With withhold of adjudication on my charges.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I wouldn't be a felon if I did everything. And
actually I just got off probation three months ago.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Congratulations, yes sir.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
But again the teen challenge, Uh, it was tough at first.
I mean it's so you you.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Don't have a because you've been there before. No, just
having to go there and admit you've got this issue.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
That's right. Noen, I got a year.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
You know, you you don't have a lot of freedom,
but you actually are learning how to use your Freedom
teen Challenge will give you some of those tools that
will allow you to live your life in a more
in an actually free way once you once you're out
in no way, if you complete a year, are you good.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
But it gives you those tools.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
So the work, the school work where you're you're learning
more about God and Jesus and the and and why
he has this wants us to have this relationship with him.
It's for us, you know, it's uh, it's to set
us free. It's to show that he loves us and
he has grace for us. And and you know, for me,
(14:01):
even though I messed up that I still have an
opportunity in life. And took me a month or two
to really get settled in there because it's just it's
different than being out. But once I did, I really
took advantage of my time in there.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
I ended up.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Actually doing an internship for seven months so I could
help guys coming in behind me get the same experience
I had.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Folks, here's what we're gonna do. There's a golf tournament
coming up the end of the month. It is the
twenty seventh Eddie's Land and Tree Service has done an
event for the last three years and the event benefits
the Tallahassee Team Challenge. I'm gonna put all the information
on our TwixT page, sorry, Twitter and next that's just
(14:50):
my stupid way Twix. And we're gonna put it out
on my blog page as well, because honestly, the sign
up is it's more just kind of showing up and
registering and and being part of the event where the
proceeds go to the Tallasse Team Challenge to help get
them a new HVAC system, which is really needed. I've
been involved with Team Challenge over the years. I was
(15:11):
telling Danny before I go back with Team Challenge to
nineteen eighty three or eighty four in Phoenix, and by
being involved with just having a heart for what they
do and how they do it. And I guess the
final thing I want to share is if you're struggling
out there, there's a Team Challenge somewhere in your area.
I don't care where you're listening to the show on
iHeartRadio across the country, there's a Team Challenge nearby. And Danny,
(15:36):
thank you for coming in and telling everybody your story
does a pleasure. It's made a difference in your life.
I can see it in your face, but you'd recommend
I would. Thanks for having me, Yeah, thank you.