David (Doc) Reece passed away recently but he's here with me in spirit on this episode. He was the most impactful professor in my college and young adult life. His impact goes so much further than that, though. He's on my Mt Rushmore of "men I hope to be like". He taught me about everything from romancing a woman to the Hebrew language. He was as good an athlete and competitor as he was a scholar. But he was also the most humble and sincerely devoted believer you could hope to meet. I could've talked for hours about him and the stories he told. He made the Bible come alive to me and he (still) inspires me to live poetically and richly devoted to my faith, as well as maintaining an ever curious approach to all things. We get one life to explore this great existence and he didn't waste a minute of his. My impression of him is not alone; everyone who knew him knows exactly what I'm talking about. He was rare, to say the least. He left us too soon but he can never be forgotten. People will be telling stories about him for DECADES to come. I already miss him and look forward to seeing him in the hereafter....

Liam reached out to Kenzie when her episode was posted and cheekily asked if he could be on an episode and talk about punk music, his passion. My podcast has NO rules, so I said 'of course'. Liam is clearly in love with this music genre, and I found his passion and knowledge for it inspiring (we ALL need someone in our lives that looks at us the way Liam looks at punk music). But more than that, I really enjoyed getting to know my daughter's friend. COVID has kept us from having any of our kids' friends over to the house, so that's been a bit rough. I'm glad we still have the internet and things to keep us all connected though. One side benefit: I felt for a moment like I was back in youth ministry and that felt really good.

Marcus Patrick, a fellow Knoxville native (GoVols!) that moved to other parts of the world to spread the love of Tennessee to wayward souls. Well, ok, not so much the Tennessee part. But he's changing lives one kid, one family at a time in Lexington, Kentucky. I decided that JephsWorldSoWhite and I wanted to amplify a black voice that is doing great work and has deep thoughts about the current affairs. He's a man of few words that would much prefer to speak with his actions rather than lecture anyone, so I was honored that he shared his evening with me, saying a lot more than he normally would. Not surprisingly, he's full of grace even in these dark times. But don't mistake that as being weak. He's a man of action, but he does all things with class and love. He's seen just about everything in his career and knows what he's talking about. When it comes to making sense out of life, he's one of the best sources of wisdom. I wish he'd share more of his wisdom on social media but he's too smart to get consumed in it. My wife and I think him and his wife are fantastic and we often miss getting to do ministry alongside them.

Meet The Warden, AKA, my wonderful and amazing wife, Kayla. She's blessed my life for 19 years, 18 of which we've been married. After begging and pleading with me to be on my podcast, I finally relented and here she is (just teasing, I'm the one who begged). In this episode we basically do a brief overview of how she grew up plus she answered some questions on the spot from me and some friends on social media. The pee story in this episode is just one of many hilarious moments in her life. She makes me laugh more than anyone else and she also scares me a little bit, especially if she's hungry. I think she's great. And I'm not the only one so I must not be crazy. I hope she keeps me! SHOUT OUT to my non-sponsor of the week; GAMES (of all kinds). They've helped a lot of us overcome the stress of quarantine. This episode caps my series MOTHER'S MAY. Might have to make this a yearly thing, it's been a lot of fun.

Meet my MIL, Karen McKenzie. 19 years ago she didn't even know who I was. Neither did her middle daughter, my wife. A few months later in 2001, I blessed both of their lives beyond imagination by agreeing, modestly, to join their family and accept their undying love for me. Ok, ok, it was more like I begged and chased and bargained and prayed that they'd let me in, but luckily for me her daughter has terrible taste in men and was clearly having an early life crisis, so I got to sneak into Karen's life and become her son-in-law. Am I her favorite son-in-law? It's best I not ask that question. BUT, she's my favorite mother-in-law. In the 18 years that I've been married into her family (again, her daughter's lack of taste in men cannot be understated), Karen has taught me how to be a really good human as well as how to play Rook. I'm crazy lucky she was forced to love me by virtue of, you guessed it, her daughter's poor taste in men (have I mentioned that?). SHOUT OUT to my non-sponsor of the week: COKE ZERO. You have been my poison during this quarantine. Thank you for being the caffeine-vessel I need to get through the day.

Meet "The Gretch". I've known this gal since she was a kid. Literally. I moved to Greenwood, Indiana in 2005 just up the road from her and her family farm. I've been lucky to have them in my life since. She's on this episode for a specific reason; to provide some insight into grief/life from losing a parent (mother) too soon. This is a quasi-tribute to her mom, Sara. I'll definitely have her back because she's not just 'a girl who lost her mother'. She's hilarious and creative and super smart. Her spiritual gifts include knowing the lyrics to most rap, hip-hop, and country songs. Who doesn't need that at a party? WARNING: she tells a very funny thing at one point that made her have to put a quarter in the swear jar but I did NOT bleep it out because it would ruin the story. Deal with it.

So I talked my Momma into doing an episode basically because I can never remember the stories of her life and needed to record her telling some of them so I can pass them to my own kids. Raised on a farm, she lived a very different life than most of us. Heck, I know lots of farmers, and she lived a different life than even them. She's the hardest working PERSON I know (not female, but person). Her memory is wicked great and she spends this episode telling some amazing (and even crazy) stories about her childhood and how her own mom was basically dropped off on a doorstep as a toddler. She's 4'9" tall but lives like she's 6'5. I love her very much and I'm lucky she's my mom.

My son. He's definitely the craziest kid I have and if I worry about one of my kids dying from a game of double-dare, it's this kid. Somehow, even with his very serious food allergies, he's made it to the BIG 1-5. That's right, he's turning 15 in a few days, so that's why he's the guest this week. Birthday Babies (that's right, he's STILL and FOREVER my baby!) get the spotlight and he's the first birthday we celebrate every year. In this pod, he talks to me about video games, animation, things he's creating, legos, and a bunch of other stuff I only have peripheral knowledge of. I really hope he gets to become some sort of game designing, lego building, superhero loving adult because I'm not sure he'd ever succeed in a cubicle working on spreadsheets and memos. I'm not sure if that means we've failed him as parents or succeeded at an elite level. Time will tell I suppose.

Craig and I met in 7th grade and were fast friends. Shortly thereafter we realized we were MFEO. Me, a thick and wild hair and Craig, a short, thin pillar of the community type of guy. He's the Dr Jekyll to my Mr Hyde. In this pod, we talk about what Craig is up to in life and I basically just introduce you to the best guy I know. I barely scratch the surface of his kindness, selflessness, and sagacity. We didn't get around to the story about when I pooped in his locker in high school, but we do talk briefly about the ridiculous painful pranks we and our friend group would endure. Craig and I can be earthy, but I try to keep things earth-free on Jeph's World. However, Craig gave me an opportunity to use a BEEP noise on the pod! My first time ever! And the word wasn't even that bad! I just wanted to use it to make it sound like he said something really bad! I'm a bad person. Craig will be back on future episodes, and you'll just have to put up with it.

Miles is one of the best friends I've ever had. He's also one of my most unique friends. He's been a child movie actor, commercial actor, Broadway actor (Beauty and The Beast), Kentucky Wildcat mascot (Scratch), police academy hobbyist (you'll find out what that means), acting instructor, theater boss, seminary dropout, and currently a few years into Law School at the University of Kentucky (at 31 yrs old). If you're wondering, yes, he's exhausted. I didn't succeed in recording anything that would derail his Law career, but I will have him back on another episode and try again at some point. Find out in this episode about his passions and how they actually all connect in a profound way to his faith, and also if he has plans to get engaged to his current girlfriend soon. BIG SHOUT OUT to my NON-SPONSOR OF THE WEEK: Airpods! Those little things cost so much I had to put a second mortgage on my house but I absolutely love them and think you should jeopardize your financial health in order to have some as well!