As Bill was doing some future-focused research he became interested in future baby names. Many parents these days are going back to an old form of technology as their kids show interest in wanting to connect with their peers outside of school. 

Dave is interested in finding out how to apologize to Amazon after blaming them for a missing package when he accidentally had it sent to his son in Texas. 

Carmen has an interest in the game of Mahjong after learning to play it over the Christmas break. She recently bought a set and is excited for some downtime to play it. 

Dave found a chess set and wasn't sure who it belonged to but he should have guessed it was his youngest son who would be interested in a game of strategy like that. 

You've heard us talk about the Bible Studies led by Paige Brown before. If you have interest in doing one of her studies, now is your chance as her Winter 2026 Bible study starts tomorrow! 

And if you've got interest in connecting more with God, start a Bible study this year! 

If you have interest in AI, Bill has some wisdom to share with you and some news on how Gmail has integrated AI into the email platform. 

There's a lot of interest in Brandon Lake these days, especially with his song, Hard Fought Hallelujah. While he was getting ready to perform the song on Good Morning America yesterday, he said something interesting that connected him to another guest on the show. 

And Brandon isn't the only Christian artist that many in the mainstream are becoming interested in these days as Christian music is breaking down some of the barriers. 

00:32 Baby Names 

04:14 Landlines for Kids 

07:29 Dave's Amazon order delivered elsewhere

10:50 texts 

12:31 Carmen gets Mahjong set 

15:56 Daniel's heavy chess set 

21:03 Paige Brown Bible Study starts tomorrow 

24:30 Do A Bible Study this year 

29:47 AI and wisdom 

33:51 AI and Gmail 

36:09 Brandon Lake on Good Morning America 

40:04 Christian music breaking barriers of mainstream 

43:15 Bill's BIG Word

How much do you prioritize when it comes to sleep? Your preferences may determine your chronotype, we learned this morning, thanks to Bill. 

As Dave, Bill and Carmen were getting ready for a meeting after the show, their preferences on their preparation were very different. 

Now that Wild Card Weekend is almost done in the NFL, Carmen has her preferences as to who should like to see make it further in the playoffs. We also heard from you as to who you were pulling for. And we even had the mom of an NFL kicker call in to try and convince Carmen to pull for her son's team instead! 

And with the College Football Playoffs Championship match set up, Carmen has a preference to see Indiana win it all while Dave prefers Miami to take the W on home turf. 

Bill had some thoughts on worship and priorities this morning and Carmen shared what we need to prioritize according to the "Secret to Success" message from Pastor Aaron Burke. 

An artist that we've known for a while is switching things up for his tour priorities this upcoming year. Sam Tinnesz will be joining the Firefighters of Banana Ball as they tour the country in 2026. 

There is some concern regarding Dolly Parton as it is believed she is cancelling some upcoming engagements to prioritize her health. 

Some people prefer pickleball. While others may prefer Padel. Bill tells us the differences between the two games. For TobyMac, he prefers to hit the links as he did with 2 of his sons over the Christmas break. And he hit a hole-in-one while playing with them! 

A bear who preferred the friendly confines under one man's house for several months has finally vacated the premises. 

And Carmen is making it a priority to learn some "bigger words" as she continues to play her word games. 

00:32 Chronotype Quiz 

04:35 text from Daniel on 5AM alarms 

05:55 Meeting Prep Differences 

09:53 Wild Card Weekend 

12:45 texts 

14:10 Call from Will Lutz's mom 

17:28 CFP set  - Indiana vs. Miami 

21:48 Worship and priorities 

26:31 The Secret To Success - message from Aaron Burke 

30:22 Sam Tinnesz joins Firefighters of Banana Ball 

33:48 Dolly Parton sick 

37:02 Padel, the new sport 

39:58 TobyMac's hole-in-one 

41:18 Bear under house finally relocated 

43:27 Carmen's Bigger Word - Quark 

45:22 Bill's BIG Word

Sasha's Miracle Story is one that will move you. And Bill recorded another "Miracle On Your Street" story that will certainly move you as well. 

The University of Miami Hurricanes are moving on in the College Football Playoffs after defeating Ole Miss last night. 

Dave's hat is on the move from the UK. It's only a matter of time now. 

Carmen is making moves behind the scenes to help a coworker celebrate her gender reveal. 

When reading the Bible, take the time to notice what is happening in God's Word and how he is making moves that will change you as well. 

The government made a move and inverted the food pyramid to reprioritize our diets. 

Carmen is moving some stuff around in her refrigerator to make room for a protein drink. 

And Dutch Bros is making quite a few new moves into several neighborhoods in our listening area. 

If you had to make a move like hiding a body, who in your family would you call for help? That's a question Bill posed after playing a conversation game called Tales. 

King cakes are moving off the shelves at grocery stores in Louisiana. And one new option caught the attention of Dave with a Dr. Pepper King Cake. 

Dirty Sodas are moving moves in the community as well as it becomes more popular thanks to places like Swig. 

00:32 Sasha's Miracle Story and more to come 

03:11 College Football Playoffs - Miami moves on 

06:39 Dave's hat on the way 

11:38 Mandy's gender reveal today 

15:04 take notice when Bible reading 

20:30 John 15:4 

23:32 Food Pyramid Changes 

28:22 Fairlife Core Protein drink 

33:06 Dutch Bros 

36:11 Tales Conversation game 

39:19 Dr. Pepper King Cake 

42:20 Dirty Soda and Swig 

44:58 Bill's BIG Word

The name Jesus is synonymous with rewriting history. Dave shared some thoughts on his name and impact. 

A little miracle happened for Sasha, the first of our winners in Miracle On Your Street, and we are certain that gift will rewrite history for her and her twin daughters. 

Dave shared the history behind the Popcorn sandwich and we would love to rewrite it with different ingredients. On the other hand, the Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich has withstood the test of time. 

Mahjong - It's an ancient Chinese game but new to Carmen and her daughters. Haley seems to have mastered it already. 

It's a historic year for our country as we celebrate 250 years. One of those celebrations comes in the form of new currency. 

00:32 The Name Jesus 

02:41 Sasha's Miracle Story Next 

04:31 Sasha's Miracle Story - Part 1 

09:46 Sasha's Miracle Story - Part 2 

13:19 Old Sandwiches 

18:10 PBJ sandwich 

21:18 Haley Mahjong - Part 1 

24:51 Haley Mahjong - Part 2 

28:23 Semiquincentennial coins 

32:10 Loving the country 

35:12 Bill's BIG Word 

Dave, Bill and Carmen are certainly creatures of habit and we covered that quite a bit on the show. Before we got to that though, we had some business to attend to with many of you asking about the winners of Miracle On Your Street. 

Carmen has a habit of playing Wordle and yesterday's word was a doozy! 

Carmen also has a habit of mixing up idioms and Bill put her to the test this morning. 

Dave has a habit of wanting alone time. He almost found another unique job opportunity that would offer "some" solitude. 

We started a habit last year of having our Midweek Praise Break. We almost forgot about it but one song helped remind us to do it today. 

Carmen was introduced to the game of Mahjong over the holidays and is debating on making it a habit. 

If you want to form a habit, Bill has some thoughts from a recent study that recommends you be a little flexible with it. Carmen has made it a habit to not talk much about weight loss as that had been a big focus of hers for awhile and she has formed the habits she wants and needs to maintain her health. 

Bill has a habit of tracking as much data as possible, but lately, that has turned into an experiment as he tests 2 fitness watches against each other. 

Dave has a habit of snacking during the show and his recent choices have been a bit healthier. 

00:32 Miracle On Your Street update 

03:23 Oomph! Is it a word? 

05:54 Word Game Wednesday - Mixed up idioms

08:42 Text - burning bridges country song 

09:52 Dave and the Scottish Island Ranger job 

14:35 Midweek Praise Break coming up - send in your requests 

15:43 Midweek Praise Break - Goodness of God, Lord I Need You, Blessed Assurance 

17:50 Midweek Praise Break recap 

18:36 Carmen and Mahjong 

25:04 texts 

27:18 Flexibility helps in forming habits 

33:01 Carmen intentionally not focused on weight loss 

36:50 Dave's healthy snacks 

40:52 Bill's BIG Word

Today marks the day of Epiphany. As we got the day started, Bill gave us some insight into the celebration of Epiphany. And then Dave got us all fired up with a new song from Pat Barrett. 

Haley joined us to put Carmen's feet to the fire over her grocery shopping for Christmas morning breakfast and how she shops at the store for family meals on vacation. 

Carmen and Haley along with the rest of their family are all in on going to Christmas Eve services on December 23rd. 

Bill is all in on his fitness watch testing and has swapped wrists with the watches to see how it goes today. 

Carmen has a hack from her youngest daughter to help you go all in on macro tracking. 

A bear has gone all up inside the crawl space of a California home and has no plans to vacate anytime soon. 

Bill is fired up for all the things we will see in the night sky in 2026. 

Carmen shared a message from Pastor Aaron Burke of Radiant Church in Tampa encouraging us to go "All In" on our relationship with Jesus. 

Carmen is all in on her new sleep machine she used on vacation in Colorado. 

Bill wanted to see if Carmen and Dave could figure out what several words all had in common with each other and they were surprised to learn the connection. 

00:32 Epiphany 

04:53 Pat Barrett - I've Got A Fire 

06:46 Haley - Carmen goes breakfast shopping 

11:08 Haley - Roasting Carmen 

13:20 Haley - Christmas Eve 

15:28 Dave - Christmas Eve 

19:40 Bill's fitness watch testing continued 

22:47 macro tracking 

28:47 Bear in crawl space of Cali home 

34:14 2026 Celestial Happenings 

36:53 All In - Aaron Burke 

42:20 Carmen's Sleep Machine 

46:48 50-year-old words 

52:17 Epiphany - Isaiah 60:1 

54:05 Bill's BIG Word

Dave, Bill and Carmen are back for the first time in 2026 and sharing about their holiday experiences and offering up some suggestions for devotionals in 2026 as well. 

00:32 Happy New Year! 

01:49 So much to cover

04:26 The Bible Recap for 2026 

09:08 Bill's Devotional Recommendations 

11:35 Carmen connects to Starlink in Colorado 

19:23 Coasters for Carmen and Dave 

20:54 Dave's Christmas 

28:13 Bill's Christmas Day Travels 

30:54 Bill's double wrist watches 

35:37 Hiking in North Georgia mountains 

39:43 Dave's grandkids get new tech 

43:37 Kids and tech 

46:09 12 Days of Christmas and Epiphany 

51:09 Word for the year? 

54:56 Bill's BIG Word

2025 was action packed for The Morning Cruise and The JOY FM as we packed up our first home of 39 years, loaded up the moving truck, and relocated to our new permanent home in Riverview, Florida. There were a lot of memories to pack, move, and unpack as we look back at some of our biggest, hardest, funniest and heartfelt moments with Dave, Bill and Carmen. 

01:07 Memories in the building 

05:00 Emilie's Journal Entry 

08:20 Grandkid #3 for Bill 

09:36 Natalie Grant's parents make it to the twins graduation 

10:40 Chris Tomlin's Scuba Diving Story 

13:49 Moving Pains 

17:12 Jonathan Pokluda - Putting a rock in someone's shoe 

18:55 Our Pathetic Office Packing 

22:09 Moving One Inch At A Time 

27:13 Flagpole Measurements 

28:34 Carmen's Bigger Word 

31:33 Last Break In Sarasota Studios 

33:17 First Day In Our New Home 

35:47 Matt Maher - Some Assembly Required 

37:00 Matt Maher - What's That Tune Wednesday 

38:25 All Dressed Up For Important Visitors

41:00 Lakeland Frequency Changes 

41:55 Milking Cow Farm 

43:28 Jules and the Arby's Surveillance Tape 

46:13 Dave Barnes makes an impression in Uganda

47:48 Bromance Brewing for Jayar and Josiah Queen? 

49:40 Jeremy Rosado and NYC Foods 

52:28 Carmen Considers A Russian Manicure 

54:27 Carmen's Estradiol Patches 

56:46 Creatives vs Numbers People 

59:41 JOY BOMB - Peacekeeprs, Peacemakers and Peacetakers

It's our last show of 2025 as we'll be playing 100 hours of Christmas music next week and then Dan Brodie will be filling in for us until we return on January 5, 2026. It has been a full year of highlights on The Morning Cruise this year. 

Carmen got the show started with a scary story of an Australian skydiver that got his reserve parachute caught on the tailwing of the aircraft when he jumped recently. Next time, he'll be more measured in his judgment of how far to jump! 

Dave gave some thoughtful gifts to Carmen and Bill and they'll be able to see how full their coffee reserves are. 

And Carmen gave Dave a gift on behalf of several coworkers that needed some measurements to get. 

If you are feeling lonely at Christmas, Bill has some wisdom for you may want to fill your time seeking out friends nearby and getting some exercise. 

If you've got a pantry and refrigerator filled with cheese, you may be doing some good as far as dementia is concerned. 

And we had to finish off the show with our Christmas Story Montage. 

00:32 Parachute gets caught on wing 

04:41 Dave's gifts to Carmen and Bill 

08:44 Totally not a gift card for Dave 

14:01 need to measure Dave's head now 

15:51 loneliness at Christmas

21:12 exercise and depression 

24:15 cheese and dementia 

29:13 measuring Dave's head 

32:02 The Christmas Story Montage 

At the urging of wearing a stocking cap from "someone close to him",  Dave went and got a haircut. Movies at Christmas time are a great family activity. You'll want to see the new animated David movie and you might be surprised by the guy who is the voice of David in the film. 

One way we help you get up and ready for Christmas is our Birth of Jesus montage. 

You'll be able to fill your stocking with quite a bit if you win our Miracle On Your Street contest. 

Did you ever get an orange in your stocking? Bill tells us how that came to be. If bananas are more your thing, you might want to stock up on banana water. 

Ford thought people would stock up on electric vehicles but now they are scaling back on that. 

Fan of Krispy Kreme or Peanuts? You'll want to stock up on their specialty donut collab. 

Carmen had quite a bit invested in not eating sugar but now she has a dilemma. 

If you want something sweet to eat, you don't need to stock up on it. You just need 4 bites. 

00:32 Dave's haircut 

02:45 David Movie 

06:47 Birth of Jesus montage 

13:21 Miracle On Your Street 

15:35 Oranges in Stockings 

20:05 Banana Water 

26:01 EV's popularity waning 

31:19 Krispy Kreme x Peanuts donuts 

34:14 Carmen's sugar dilemma 

39:49 4 bites...not quite 

42:50 Bill's BIG Word