In this episode of the Plain Values Podcast, Marlin Miller sits down with Jed Johnson, founder of Wide Awake International, to hear how God led one ordinary family from Alaska to the front lines of caring for boys with disabilities in Ukraine.

Jed grew up as a pastor’s kid in Alaska. When he was six, his father suffered a devastating double stroke. Life changed dramatically.  The strong, adventurous dad became someone who had to relearn almost everything. The family moved to Montana, faced financial hardship, and leaned deeply on faith. Those early years taught Jed resilience, compassion, and the reality that God is present even when life is hard.

As an adult, Jed met his wife Kim, a nurse whose childhood dream was to care for orphans. Together they became foster parents to medically fragile babies while serving in their local church. Then God began stirring their hearts toward Ukraine. What started as an adoption attempt in 2010 eventually led them to move their entire family there in 2013, right before the revolution.

Jed and Kim have walked alongside boys like Boris, Anton, and Ruslan… young men who came from institutions carrying deep trauma. The work has been incredibly difficult: sleepless nights, aggression, medical needs, and the daily challenge of replacing years of harm with consistent love and safety. Through it all, Jed emphasizes one simple strategy God gave him: “Put one foot in front of the other and say yes to the next thing.”

Today their homestead outside Kiev includes a garden, horses for therapy, and a growing community of Ukrainians carrying the work forward. Jed’s story is a beautiful reminder that obedience often looks like small, faithful steps into the unknown… and God meets us there.

This conversation encapsulates what we hope to do here with the Plain Values Podcast, telling stories that matter and bring us closer to the table.

If this conversation filled your coffee cup, we would humbly invite you to leave a thoughtful comment below and please, don’t be sh … the Like and Subscribe buttons help more friends find this episode. 

We’re always looking for more friends.

Find out more about Jed at: https://wideawakeinternational.org

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

In 1929, at the very beginning of the Great Depression, a man named Albert Brumley sat down in the northwest corner of Arkansas and wrote a song called “I’ll Fly Away.”

It wasn’t published until 1932, but that simple hymn has since become the most recorded gospel song in history.

Brumley went on to write over 800 songs, yet “I’ll Fly Away” remains one of the most beloved of all time.

Marlin shares that it is easily one of his top one or two favorite hymns. When his time comes to fly home, he’s asked his wife to make sure one thing happens at his funeral.

These short, heartfelt Minutes with Marlin deliver quick moments of wisdom, faith, humility, and encouragement—perfect for busy homestead days when we need a gentle reminder of what really matters.

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

In this episode of The Plain Values Podcast… Sophia Eng shares her family’s journey from Vietnamese refugee roots to a thriving 40-acre regenerative homestead in East Tennessee. 

With a military husband and two daughters, Sophia’s parents (boat people who fled Saigon) lived with them, creating a multi-generational home rich in tradition, work ethic, and faith.

When lockdowns hit California in 2020, Sophia’s intuition (shaped by her parents’ stories of curfews and uncertainty) told her it was time to leave. They sold everything, loaded their animals (including three $300 egg-laying hens bought in a moment of urgency), and followed a leading to Tennessee, where green grass and community awaited.

Today their homestead includes dairy and beef cattle, sheep, poultry, and gardens. Sophia’s books preserve family recipes and traditional fermentation while teaching soil health, Korean natural farming, and biochar. 

Sophia reflects on the pressure of Asian-American success metrics and how she and her husband chose a different path, one of soil, community, and faithfulness. Through every challenge, they return to the truth that God provides and that hard things often produce the sweetest fruit.

A beautiful reminder that legacy isn’t built in boardrooms but in backyard gardens, kitchen ferments, and multi-generational tables.

If this conversation filled your coffee cup, we would humbly invite you to leave a thoughtful comment below and please, don’t be shy … the Like and Subscribe buttons help more friends find this episode. 

We’re always looking for more friends.

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

There are seasons when life brings deep, hard things … the loss of a spouse, the burial of a child, a long-term disability, or seasons of uncertainty and anxiety where God feels distant and silent.

In this moving episode, Marlin shares the power of an old hymn written by William Cowper in 1779, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” The lyrics speak straight to the heart:

“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform…

Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.”

Marlin reminds us that even when we cannot see or understand what God is doing, we can trust His sovereign, never-failing skill. 

These short, heartfelt Minutes with Marlin deliver quick moments of wisdom, faith, humility, and encouragement—perfect for busy homestead days when we need a gentle reminder of what really matters.

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

In this episode of The Plain Values Podcast …

Some people build businesses. Others build lives that point to something greater.

In this powerful conversation, Derek and Lisa Guyer share the raw, beautiful story of their journey; from financial brokenness and a tiny two-bedroom home with six kids in one room, to owning and transforming Kentucky Lumber into a place of integrity, character, and genuine care.

Derek openly talks about the early failures, the lessons learned from his parents, and the deliberate choice to create a company culture where employees feel safe, customers are treated like family, and tough love meets real respect.

At the center of it all is their deep commitment to fostering and adopting children from hard places. Derek describes the chaos, the screaming, the fear… and the unwavering decision to be the safe place these kids desperately need.

Through every trial, financial stress, loss, and the daily grind, they return to the same truth: generosity matters most when it’s hardest.

If this conversation filled your coffee cup, we would humbly invite you to leave a thoughtful comment below and please, don’t be shy … the Like and Subscribe buttons help more friends find this episode. 

We’re always looking for more friends.

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

Marlin has always loved the simple, sensory pleasure of holding a real book or magazine; the feel of the paper, the weight in his hands. 

In this episode, he reflects on how rare and precious books once were in the Middle Ages, when monks painstakingly copied them by hand. Then Gutenberg’s printing press changed everything by giving “wings to truth.”

He beautifully connects this to God’s own design: trees become paper, language becomes Scripture, and the written word allows divine truth to spread across generations.

These short, heartfelt Minutes with Marlin deliver quick moments of wisdom, faith, humility, and encouragement—perfect for busy homestead days when we need a gentle reminder of what really matters.

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

In this episode of The Plain Values Podcast …

Some stories remind us that God still does the impossible.

On a seemingly normal Monday morning in 2013, Becky Mast collapsed at home. Within minutes she had no heartbeat. For the next 35 minutes she received no oxygen to her brain. She was clinically dead.

What followed was a cascade of miracles.

Paramedics worked on her relentlessly. After six shocks and heroic CPR, her heart finally restarted. Doctors at multiple hospitals gave grim prognoses, massive brain damage was expected. They prepared Jimmy for the possibility of bringing his wife home in a wheelchair, or worse.

Instead, after being anointed with oil according to James 5, Becky began showing signs of life. She responded to her favorite worship song. She spoke. She walked. She came home just 15 days later.

Jimmy and Becky share their story with raw honesty; the fear, the prayers, the friends who carried them, and the undeniable hand of God that defied every medical expectation.

If this conversation filled your coffee cup, we would humbly invite you to leave a thoughtful comment below and please, don’t be shy … the Like and Subscribe buttons help more friends find this episode. 

We’re always looking for more friends.

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

As a young boy, Marlin watched a powerful storm roll through with tornadoes touching down nearby. 

A funnel cloud spun just 100 yards behind their house, hovering above the treetops. While the rest of the family took shelter in the basement, his dad stood outside, calmly watching in awe of nature’s raw power.

Marlin was terrified, yet deeply moved by his father’s fearless wonder. That moment stayed with him.

These short, heartfelt Minutes with Marlin deliver quick moments of wisdom, faith, humility, and encouragement—perfect for busy homestead days when we need a gentle reminder of what really matters.

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

In this episode of The Plain Values Podcast, Marlin sits down with his good friend Larry Yoder for a conversation about God’s incredible redeeming grace.

Larry shares his remarkable journey of growing up Amish, leaving the church as a teenager, and spiraling into a life of heavy drug use, partying, and bad choices. From smoking weed at 11 to nearly overdosing multiple times, Larry openly talks about how he was searching for something to fill the void but kept running from the very thing he needed most: Jesus.

Then came the turning point. Sitting at a pizza shop with friends who simply shared how Jesus had changed their lives, Larry surrendered everything. What followed was radical transformation… quitting drugs cold turkey, moving to Baltimore to serve in an inner-city ministry, meeting his wife Amanda, and eventually stepping into the work he does today with Pure Gift of God.

Now, Larry and his team work tirelessly to support foster care and adoption, helping children find loving homes and walking alongside families through the hard, beautiful work of building forever families. His story is a powerful reminder that no one is too far gone for God’s grace, and that our past pain can become the very platform God uses to bring hope to others.

If you’ve ever wondered whether God can truly redeem the messiest parts of our stories, or if you want to be encouraged by a testimony of radical transformation, this episode is for you.

If this conversation filled your coffee cup, we would humbly invite you to leave a thoughtful comment below and please, don’t be shy … the Like and Subscribe buttons help more friends find this episode. 

We’re always looking for more friends.

Learn more about Larry Yoder’s work at https://puregiftofgod.org

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

It was a bitterly cold December day in 2016 (just 5 or 10 degrees) when Marlin, his brother, and a friend headed north to fly fish for steelhead. Marlin had years of experience and was excited to show off a little.

But pride has a way of humbling us. While demonstrating how it’s done, Marlin stepped in a deep hole and fell face-first upstream. His waders instantly filled with freezing river water. Soaked, freezing, and embarrassed, he had to trudge back to the truck while his brother and friend enjoyed a great day catching fish.

Marlin didn’t get to fish at all that day, but he walked away with a memorable lesson.

These short, heartfelt Minutes with Marlin deliver quick doses of wisdom, faith, humility, and encouragement—perfect for busy homestead days when we need a gentle reminder of what really matters.

Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com