November 11, 2025 • 17 mins
What if the most powerful lessons in life aren’t found in classrooms, but in the everyday magic of a crosswalk? Join us as James Stephens, author of Stories from the Crosswalk, reveals how fleeting moments with children inspired a collection of unforgettable, heartwarming tales for all ages. Discover the faith, imagination, and real-life experiences that shaped his journey from Marine to beloved storyteller—and learn why his stories resonate with both kids and adults. Don’t miss this moving conversation that reminds us: the best stories are lived, not just read.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey is Benji Cole, Son of Alcohol from CBS Radio
and host of the syndicated talk show People of Distinction.
The talk gives you an in depth view of some
of the most dynamic, intelligent, and successful people on the planet.
Run to our website Alcohol Enterprises dot com for more info.
Email me through Benji at Alcohol Enterprises dot com if
you'd like to get involved with what we have going,
(00:30):
and as always, please continue to like and follow our broadcasts.
People of Distinction is internationally syndicated solely due to the
love and support that you all continue to give. We're
available across all major distributors, and as long as you
keep following, we're going to continue to put out the content. Now,
sit back and strap in because on the line with
us today we have the oppressive James Stevens. Now, we're
(00:53):
gonna be discussing James's incredible book Stories from the Crosswalk,
a collection of character building stories for children, and I
promise you it's gonna do just that. It's Amazon, it's
Barnes and Noble, it's a lot of other places. Man
type it into a search bar, sit back and be
greeted with all of it. But if you want to
(01:14):
go that extra mile. You want to purchase a copy
directly from James himself, you gotta reach out to him
by his email address. Okay, now that's gonna be Stevens
with the pH. All right, So that's S. T E
P h E N S. James one four eight at
gmail dot com. Again, Stevens James one four eight at
(01:35):
gmail dot com. That's if you want to purchase the
copies directly from him. And I promise you're gonna wanna
do that, right, So make sure you jot that down
and listen. It is an absolute pleasure to have James
on the line with us today. People. What if the
most powerful lessons in life? Man, what if they weren't
found in the classroom, but actually in the few magical
(01:58):
steps of a crosswalk. Now, listen, our guest today has
transformed his daily duty into a story factory.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
He has spun fleeting moments with kids into tales of
bullfrog bullies and cosmic Sannah's and so much more. And
he's here today to reveal how a simple hello can
maybe unlock a universe of imagination and timeless values. I'm
(02:29):
telling you for my parents out there, but even my
just adults, man, everybody out there listening in. It may
have been written for children, but my adults are going
to be able to thrive within the confines of this
book as well. Sit back, strap in, and get ready
for a wonderful conversation. James, first and foremost, welcome to
(02:52):
the network, and thank you for being a guest with us. Man,
how you doing today?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I'm doing fine. That's bless favorite flavored, James.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I love it, man, That's the first I've heard, right,
the highly flavored part. All right, brother, I like it.
I like it, No, James's about Welcome to the network.
I love what you've done here. As a parent myself,
this is something that not only is it just I
think a gift, right, The stories are magnificent, but there's
really something special to be found again for everyone, but
(03:25):
for specifically for my parents out there, because I tell you, James,
having two very young children, we live in our imaginations, man,
and it helps that I'm a filmmaker by trade, so
I'm already doing that. But talking to my children and
just having them spew the most random things, and then
we're able to weave it into a story in an
(03:48):
adventure that just gets brought to life, I think is
something that a lot of people are going to be
able to find immensely helpful and beneficial for their families.
So welcome to the network, brother, and we're looking forward
to this. James, tell us a little bit more about yourself.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
In July nineteen forty four, my mama gave birth to
a bouncing baby boy. And here I are. But yeah,
I'm eighty one years old, and to try to go
back and cover eighty one years of my life is
frickly impossible for me to do. And I want to
try to stay to the high points today if possible.
(04:22):
But I was not a good student at school. I
was a preacher's kid, and my stepdad pastor churches, and
we moved here and there. I went to more schools
than I can even remember. But I was not a
good student. I was one of these kids that never
finished anything that he started. But I remember when I was, oh,
I don't know, maybe five six years old, I saw
(04:45):
a picture in a magazine of a green in uniform
dressed blues, and I was so impressed. I'm sorry, met
a little most soul do it every time, but it
impressed me so much, and I said, I want to
be one of them those guys one of these days. When
I was in high school, as I said, I was
not a good student, but I quit school, went into
(05:07):
the Marine Corps in nineteen sixty two till nineteen seventy.
Eventually got myded But it was one of the best
decisions I think I'd ever made in my life, beside
being born again into the Kingdom of God. And I
remember when I graduated from boot camp, I thought my
heart was going to bust out of my shirt. I
was so proud that I had finally completed something, I
(05:30):
had done something that was worthwhile. And anyway, I went
on to eight years in the Marine Corps and ended
up getting married. My first wife and I were married
twenty nine years and I had the two girls two boys.
After twenty nine years with divorced and I met my wife. Now,
actually that's a long story, so I won't get into it,
but we will be married thirty two years next month. Wow,
(05:53):
And we have fifteen grandkids and waiting on our twelfth
great grandchild to be born in January. But in nineteen
ninety three, I want to encourage some of those out
there I had got away from the Lord, being in
the Marine Corps and all. But nineteen ninety three I
was dating a lady that I knew was wrong from
(06:13):
the very beginning, but was stuck with it. But one
day and I fell down beside my bed there in
a little efficiency apartment where I lived, and I cried
out to God and I said, Lord, can I come home?
I can't live like this anymore? And he said the
sign I just standing here all these years with my
arm wide open, white, just waiting for you to ask
(06:36):
come home. So I did. I was ordained in nineteen
ninety seven with the Independent Assemblys and I started. I
got hurt on the job. I was working warehousing, and
I got hurt to where I couldn't do my job anymore,
and ended up having to go on solid security and disability.
But I got an opportunity to be a crosswalk guard
(06:57):
for the school distri Calitexas, and I loved it. I
loved the kids, I loved their interaction with them and all,
and but I had never dreamed of writing anything. I
had written the story, I had written poems, that was
no problem. I had written songs when I ended up
recording five of those, but I never dreamed of were
(07:20):
doing anything for the school. But I loved every minute
of it. I loved my kids, they loved me, And
I don't know. It's just one day I looked out
and I saw these two old ducks and one of
them was about to get out in the road and
get run over. Oh no, And I'm like, all right there,
you're gonna have to get out of the way, and
I don't like it just sparked the story, and I don't know,
(07:43):
it just seemed like after that they would come I
was wrong right after another, but it'd be built. It
maybe a month, maybe too much before I would get
another one, but I'd do it.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
James, thank you very much for that, man. And listen,
I know that there's a lot of people out there
that are taking your word words as inspiration. They're specific
to you into your journey, but I promise you, man,
there is a lot of people that are on similar paths.
And I think that in and of itself is something magnificent.
And I know, as you've stated multiple times, your faith
(08:15):
is a pivotal component to all of this, to your journey,
but is also something that is repeated throughout your book,
and it's going to be my next question or leading
into it, because listen, from a creation standpoint, you're juggling
a few things here. This book is weaving together entertainment, imagination,
(08:35):
but also these Christian values. Talk to us for a
moment here from a creation standpoint, when you were developing it,
how did you strike the perfect balance so that the
lesson found within felt like a natural, earned part of
the adventure rather than the main point you were trying
to make, or which could potentially happen with a lot
(08:58):
of this is it almost as a lecture? How did
you balance that?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Brother? Just all I can say is God breaths. Like
I said, I've never thought about writing a book. I
never writ even stories. But I don't know. As I
sat down and I start with one, like I get
an idea. Then I sat down, I just look at
it and I'm like, and what can I do with this?
Where do I go from this? And I pray over
(09:23):
every one of my stories because I want God be
in the story. I want him to tell me and
show me the correct way to put the story out
there and to where the kids will be entertained, but
also receives the information they need about him.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Okay, listen, changing gears here and going towards inspiration. I
think one thing that's clear, James, based upon what you've
been saying, and also based upon the research that we
have conducted. Man, what's clear is you've been a storyteller
long before you became a published author. So talk to
us again on that journey from the precipice to the
(10:01):
culmination of this magnificent book. What was that final nudge?
What was that moment for you that took it from
being just stories that you were writing down to knowing
this was a book that so many were going to
be able to gravitate towards.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I have to say it's encouragement from family to go
ahead and do this and put it out there. When
you're it's like I were talking about the Two Duck earlier.
You in there, you laugh, you think it, so you
get the gist of the fact that the two silly
ducks don't have a clue about what they're doing or
being run over. But you know, so you stand there
(10:40):
and you laugh about it, and all of a sudden,
it just storyline just starts forming, and it's not something
that you pondure up. It just starts flowing. Through you
and you're like, Okay, I got to write this. I
got to put this down on paper, James.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
As we start to close out, Man, my last couple
of questions here for you. I love how you introduced
an aspect into your book.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
You've infused a way for the children of your books,
or potentially adults of your books, to become illustrators themselves.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You give them an opportunity for them to write in
their own stories, for them to draw their own images
and pictures, and it really lends to them furthering their
creative side. Now, as an artist myself, I love it.
I think that there is so much benefit to that.
But I'm curious to know from your perspective, what was
the inspiration behind breaking that fourth wall and almost handing
(11:37):
the pencil over to the reader.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
It's funny because this was it was pretty much a
true story. I had a little girl named Alice that
I crossed to school the Oriental girls for you to saying,
as she could be, and she would come by and
did want to give me a hug, so I'd let
her get me a hug. And one day I was
walked over because I was over to school and I
saw her with by the kids, and I said, Alice,
(12:00):
I can't find one. Do you know where I can
find it? And she ran over and gave me a
big hug, and I said, ah, there it is right there. Anyway,
I got to thinking about that, and I'm like, Okay,
I've got to write this story. I've got to write
this story. But I had no idea of how to
do it to where it would really portray the whole story.
(12:21):
And I don't know, all of a sudden, the Lord
just dropped it into my spirit to give the kids
a place where they can write or where they can
draw what that story looks like to them. So that's
why I put part of the story at the top
of the page and left the rest of it blank.
That way, when they write her and then they draw
their picture, that to have something that is left as
(12:42):
a keepsake for mom or for grandma or grandpa to
have as yours go by, that my son or my
daughter or grandparents grandchild is the one that drew this
picture and it becomes a keepsake that way.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, James, uh listen, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna
play Devil's advocate here. For a second, and I'm gonna
I'm gonna pin you against your stories. Your book is
a collection of them, seventeen to be exact. Listen, man,
which one is your favorite?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
My favorite? Daddy's Girl, Yeah, Daddy's Girl is my favorite.
Daddy's Girl is a story about a little girl who
her or other pretty evidence Daddy's girl. Most little girls
are daddy's girls. But anyway, her daddy made her swing
and he would always he would go out and swing
and her swinging. One day he got a call and
(13:36):
he had to go into the military. He had got
called up. Of course, she prayed for her daddy and
she loved her daddy. But one day she was in
her swing and this big car pulled up and two
guys in uniform got out and went to the door.
If she found out later by her mom that her
dad had had actually died burb in his country. Wow.
(14:00):
But to give you the I want to go into
this part of this story right here in the book
where she was in her playhouse. She ran to the
playhouse her daddy had made her and she was in
and she said no, I'm sorry. I get emotional, said no,
it can't be I pray for my daddy every night.
That's not true. If she sit there crying. All of
(14:24):
a sudden her playhouse lit up with a bright light
and the boy said, andrewe He said, Jesus, your daddy
is with me now and you have nothing to fear.
He was such a brave man, and he prayed for
you and your mom and your brother every day.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
James, thank you, Thank you for sharing, man, and listen
another great story, but also one I know people listening
in right now. Man, you weren't expecting that. I wasn't
expecting that, but it resonates right as I mentioned, was
a father myself in a father of one beautiful little princess.
(15:02):
It hits home, James. As I close out, man like
first and foremost, I'm just gonna reference it again. People,
you know what you got to go to purchase it? Okay,
it's Amazon, as, Barnes and Noble. Reach out to him
directly to purchase copies. That's Stevens James one four eight
at gmail dot com. Purchase copies of this amazing book.
Because listen entertaining to no end, absolutely, but also something
(15:28):
that has deep connection, something that can really pull from
some great life lessons. And I think that's why it
was perfect and the one you just chose to share
Daddy's Girl, James, because it really does connect to something
within all of us. And if there is one message
to be taken from today's discussion and also from this book,
(15:49):
and ties back into the previous question about essentially quote
unquote handing the pencil over to the reader, is I
think often times like we are so consumed with things
that are happening in life that we forget to enjoy,
we forget to appreciate the journey and those little moments
in between. And I get it right. It's not casting
(16:11):
any aspersions, it's not pointing the blame at anyone or anything.
But this discussion, at least for me, it has reminded
me that some of life's best stories they're not just
read on a page, they're lived, they're shared in everyday moments,
and I think that's some magical concept to end on. So, James,
(16:32):
I want to thank you again for writing the book.
I want to thank you again for being here with
us to discuss it. I want to thank you for
sharing such wonderful insight and now we get to benefit
from it. So people head on over pick up copies
of the book and run with it. Man Like I
truly hope that we can find lessons, we can find
incredible stories moving forward. Just on the other side of
(16:56):
that page, it starts with this book. Man, head on
over there page Get out James again huge, thank you
for being a guest on People of Distinction.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Thank you for having me
Hey is Benji Cole, Son of Alcohol from CBS Radio
and host of the syndicated talk show People of Distinction.
The talk gives you an in depth view of some
of the most dynamic, intelligent, and successful people on the planet.
Run to our website Alcohol Enterprises dot com for more info.
Email me through Benji at Alcohol Enterprises dot com if
you'd like to get involved with what we have going,
(00:30):
and as always, please continue to like and follow our broadcasts.
People of Distinction is internationally syndicated solely due to the
love and support that you all continue to give. We're
available across all major distributors, and as long as you
keep following, we're going to continue to put out the content. Now,
sit back and strap in because on the line with
us today we have the oppressive James Stevens. Now, we're
(00:53):
gonna be discussing James's incredible book Stories from the Crosswalk,
a collection of character building stories for children, and I
promise you it's gonna do just that. It's Amazon, it's
Barnes and Noble, it's a lot of other places. Man
type it into a search bar, sit back and be
greeted with all of it. But if you want to
(01:14):
go that extra mile. You want to purchase a copy
directly from James himself, you gotta reach out to him
by his email address. Okay, now that's gonna be Stevens
with the pH. All right, So that's S. T E
P h E N S. James one four eight at
gmail dot com. Again, Stevens James one four eight at
(01:35):
gmail dot com. That's if you want to purchase the
copies directly from him. And I promise you're gonna wanna
do that, right, So make sure you jot that down
and listen. It is an absolute pleasure to have James
on the line with us today. People. What if the
most powerful lessons in life? Man, what if they weren't
found in the classroom, but actually in the few magical
(01:58):
steps of a crosswalk. Now, listen, our guest today has
transformed his daily duty into a story factory.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
He has spun fleeting moments with kids into tales of
bullfrog bullies and cosmic Sannah's and so much more. And
he's here today to reveal how a simple hello can
maybe unlock a universe of imagination and timeless values. I'm
(02:29):
telling you for my parents out there, but even my
just adults, man, everybody out there listening in. It may
have been written for children, but my adults are going
to be able to thrive within the confines of this
book as well. Sit back, strap in, and get ready
for a wonderful conversation. James, first and foremost, welcome to
(02:52):
the network, and thank you for being a guest with us. Man,
how you doing today?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I'm doing fine. That's bless favorite flavored, James.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I love it, man, That's the first I've heard, right,
the highly flavored part. All right, brother, I like it.
I like it, No, James's about Welcome to the network.
I love what you've done here. As a parent myself,
this is something that not only is it just I
think a gift, right, The stories are magnificent, but there's
really something special to be found again for everyone, but
(03:25):
for specifically for my parents out there, because I tell you, James,
having two very young children, we live in our imaginations, man,
and it helps that I'm a filmmaker by trade, so
I'm already doing that. But talking to my children and
just having them spew the most random things, and then
we're able to weave it into a story in an
(03:48):
adventure that just gets brought to life, I think is
something that a lot of people are going to be
able to find immensely helpful and beneficial for their families.
So welcome to the network, brother, and we're looking forward
to this. James, tell us a little bit more about yourself.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
In July nineteen forty four, my mama gave birth to
a bouncing baby boy. And here I are. But yeah,
I'm eighty one years old, and to try to go
back and cover eighty one years of my life is
frickly impossible for me to do. And I want to
try to stay to the high points today if possible.
(04:22):
But I was not a good student at school. I
was a preacher's kid, and my stepdad pastor churches, and
we moved here and there. I went to more schools
than I can even remember. But I was not a
good student. I was one of these kids that never
finished anything that he started. But I remember when I was, oh,
I don't know, maybe five six years old, I saw
(04:45):
a picture in a magazine of a green in uniform
dressed blues, and I was so impressed. I'm sorry, met
a little most soul do it every time, but it
impressed me so much, and I said, I want to
be one of them those guys one of these days. When
I was in high school, as I said, I was
not a good student, but I quit school, went into
(05:07):
the Marine Corps in nineteen sixty two till nineteen seventy.
Eventually got myded But it was one of the best
decisions I think I'd ever made in my life, beside
being born again into the Kingdom of God. And I
remember when I graduated from boot camp, I thought my
heart was going to bust out of my shirt. I
was so proud that I had finally completed something, I
(05:30):
had done something that was worthwhile. And anyway, I went
on to eight years in the Marine Corps and ended
up getting married. My first wife and I were married
twenty nine years and I had the two girls two boys.
After twenty nine years with divorced and I met my wife. Now,
actually that's a long story, so I won't get into it,
but we will be married thirty two years next month. Wow,
(05:53):
And we have fifteen grandkids and waiting on our twelfth
great grandchild to be born in January. But in nineteen
ninety three, I want to encourage some of those out
there I had got away from the Lord, being in
the Marine Corps and all. But nineteen ninety three I
was dating a lady that I knew was wrong from
(06:13):
the very beginning, but was stuck with it. But one
day and I fell down beside my bed there in
a little efficiency apartment where I lived, and I cried
out to God and I said, Lord, can I come home?
I can't live like this anymore? And he said the
sign I just standing here all these years with my
arm wide open, white, just waiting for you to ask
(06:36):
come home. So I did. I was ordained in nineteen
ninety seven with the Independent Assemblys and I started. I
got hurt on the job. I was working warehousing, and
I got hurt to where I couldn't do my job anymore,
and ended up having to go on solid security and disability.
But I got an opportunity to be a crosswalk guard
(06:57):
for the school distri Calitexas, and I loved it. I
loved the kids, I loved their interaction with them and all,
and but I had never dreamed of writing anything. I
had written the story, I had written poems, that was
no problem. I had written songs when I ended up
recording five of those, but I never dreamed of were
(07:20):
doing anything for the school. But I loved every minute
of it. I loved my kids, they loved me, And
I don't know. It's just one day I looked out
and I saw these two old ducks and one of
them was about to get out in the road and
get run over. Oh no, And I'm like, all right there,
you're gonna have to get out of the way, and
I don't like it just sparked the story, and I don't know,
(07:43):
it just seemed like after that they would come I
was wrong right after another, but it'd be built. It
maybe a month, maybe too much before I would get
another one, but I'd do it.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
James, thank you very much for that, man. And listen,
I know that there's a lot of people out there
that are taking your word words as inspiration. They're specific
to you into your journey, but I promise you, man,
there is a lot of people that are on similar paths.
And I think that in and of itself is something magnificent.
And I know, as you've stated multiple times, your faith
(08:15):
is a pivotal component to all of this, to your journey,
but is also something that is repeated throughout your book,
and it's going to be my next question or leading
into it, because listen, from a creation standpoint, you're juggling
a few things here. This book is weaving together entertainment, imagination,
(08:35):
but also these Christian values. Talk to us for a
moment here from a creation standpoint, when you were developing it,
how did you strike the perfect balance so that the
lesson found within felt like a natural, earned part of
the adventure rather than the main point you were trying
to make, or which could potentially happen with a lot
(08:58):
of this is it almost as a lecture? How did
you balance that?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Brother? Just all I can say is God breaths. Like
I said, I've never thought about writing a book. I
never writ even stories. But I don't know. As I
sat down and I start with one, like I get
an idea. Then I sat down, I just look at
it and I'm like, and what can I do with this?
Where do I go from this? And I pray over
(09:23):
every one of my stories because I want God be
in the story. I want him to tell me and
show me the correct way to put the story out
there and to where the kids will be entertained, but
also receives the information they need about him.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Okay, listen, changing gears here and going towards inspiration. I
think one thing that's clear, James, based upon what you've
been saying, and also based upon the research that we
have conducted. Man, what's clear is you've been a storyteller
long before you became a published author. So talk to
us again on that journey from the precipice to the
(10:01):
culmination of this magnificent book. What was that final nudge?
What was that moment for you that took it from
being just stories that you were writing down to knowing
this was a book that so many were going to
be able to gravitate towards.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I have to say it's encouragement from family to go
ahead and do this and put it out there. When
you're it's like I were talking about the Two Duck earlier.
You in there, you laugh, you think it, so you
get the gist of the fact that the two silly
ducks don't have a clue about what they're doing or
being run over. But you know, so you stand there
(10:40):
and you laugh about it, and all of a sudden,
it just storyline just starts forming, and it's not something
that you pondure up. It just starts flowing. Through you
and you're like, Okay, I got to write this. I
got to put this down on paper, James.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
As we start to close out, Man, my last couple
of questions here for you. I love how you introduced
an aspect into your book.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
You've infused a way for the children of your books,
or potentially adults of your books, to become illustrators themselves.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You give them an opportunity for them to write in
their own stories, for them to draw their own images
and pictures, and it really lends to them furthering their
creative side. Now, as an artist myself, I love it.
I think that there is so much benefit to that.
But I'm curious to know from your perspective, what was
the inspiration behind breaking that fourth wall and almost handing
(11:37):
the pencil over to the reader.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
It's funny because this was it was pretty much a
true story. I had a little girl named Alice that
I crossed to school the Oriental girls for you to saying,
as she could be, and she would come by and
did want to give me a hug, so I'd let
her get me a hug. And one day I was
walked over because I was over to school and I
saw her with by the kids, and I said, Alice,
(12:00):
I can't find one. Do you know where I can
find it? And she ran over and gave me a
big hug, and I said, ah, there it is right there. Anyway,
I got to thinking about that, and I'm like, Okay,
I've got to write this story. I've got to write
this story. But I had no idea of how to
do it to where it would really portray the whole story.
(12:21):
And I don't know, all of a sudden, the Lord
just dropped it into my spirit to give the kids
a place where they can write or where they can
draw what that story looks like to them. So that's
why I put part of the story at the top
of the page and left the rest of it blank.
That way, when they write her and then they draw
their picture, that to have something that is left as
(12:42):
a keepsake for mom or for grandma or grandpa to
have as yours go by, that my son or my
daughter or grandparents grandchild is the one that drew this
picture and it becomes a keepsake that way.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, James, uh listen, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna
play Devil's advocate here. For a second, and I'm gonna
I'm gonna pin you against your stories. Your book is
a collection of them, seventeen to be exact. Listen, man,
which one is your favorite?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
My favorite? Daddy's Girl, Yeah, Daddy's Girl is my favorite.
Daddy's Girl is a story about a little girl who
her or other pretty evidence Daddy's girl. Most little girls
are daddy's girls. But anyway, her daddy made her swing
and he would always he would go out and swing
and her swinging. One day he got a call and
(13:36):
he had to go into the military. He had got
called up. Of course, she prayed for her daddy and
she loved her daddy. But one day she was in
her swing and this big car pulled up and two
guys in uniform got out and went to the door.
If she found out later by her mom that her
dad had had actually died burb in his country. Wow.
(14:00):
But to give you the I want to go into
this part of this story right here in the book
where she was in her playhouse. She ran to the
playhouse her daddy had made her and she was in
and she said no, I'm sorry. I get emotional, said no,
it can't be I pray for my daddy every night.
That's not true. If she sit there crying. All of
(14:24):
a sudden her playhouse lit up with a bright light
and the boy said, andrewe He said, Jesus, your daddy
is with me now and you have nothing to fear.
He was such a brave man, and he prayed for
you and your mom and your brother every day.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
James, thank you, Thank you for sharing, man, and listen
another great story, but also one I know people listening
in right now. Man, you weren't expecting that. I wasn't
expecting that, but it resonates right as I mentioned, was
a father myself in a father of one beautiful little princess.
(15:02):
It hits home, James. As I close out, man like
first and foremost, I'm just gonna reference it again. People,
you know what you got to go to purchase it? Okay,
it's Amazon, as, Barnes and Noble. Reach out to him
directly to purchase copies. That's Stevens James one four eight
at gmail dot com. Purchase copies of this amazing book.
Because listen entertaining to no end, absolutely, but also something
(15:28):
that has deep connection, something that can really pull from
some great life lessons. And I think that's why it
was perfect and the one you just chose to share
Daddy's Girl, James, because it really does connect to something
within all of us. And if there is one message
to be taken from today's discussion and also from this book,
(15:49):
and ties back into the previous question about essentially quote
unquote handing the pencil over to the reader, is I
think often times like we are so consumed with things
that are happening in life that we forget to enjoy,
we forget to appreciate the journey and those little moments
in between. And I get it right. It's not casting
(16:11):
any aspersions, it's not pointing the blame at anyone or anything.
But this discussion, at least for me, it has reminded
me that some of life's best stories they're not just
read on a page, they're lived, they're shared in everyday moments,
and I think that's some magical concept to end on. So, James,
(16:32):
I want to thank you again for writing the book.
I want to thank you again for being here with
us to discuss it. I want to thank you for
sharing such wonderful insight and now we get to benefit
from it. So people head on over pick up copies
of the book and run with it. Man Like I
truly hope that we can find lessons, we can find
incredible stories moving forward. Just on the other side of
(16:56):
that page, it starts with this book. Man, head on
over there page Get out James again huge, thank you
for being a guest on People of Distinction.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Thank you for having me
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