SOLID START
Focusing on life from God's perspective.
SOLID START
Fresh Air in a Polluted World
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Greg and Brian are joined by Merrell Bros. driver Travis Bline for a down-to-earth conversation on choosing a positive attitude in everyday life. Drawing from Philippians 2:15–16, they explore what it means to be a “breath of fresh air” in today’s world—and challenge listeners to bring encouragement and light into conversations this week.
Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Solid Start, a podcast designed to help get your week off to a solid start by focusing on life from God's perspective. I'm Greg Reed, life coach at Merrill Bros, joined by my ever amazing and remarkable co-host Brian Hertzog. Brian, good morning.
SPEAKER_01Morning, Greg.
SPEAKER_02What's up today?
SPEAKER_01Beautiful Monday.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it is. We've had some. I was driving this morning and it was 32 degrees. So dropped a little bit from my windshield this morning.
SPEAKER_01Like I thought we were over this.
SPEAKER_02From where it's been. So how was your weekend?
SPEAKER_01I did absolutely nothing, which was amazing.
SPEAKER_02Oh, great. That doesn't happen for you very often, does it?
SPEAKER_01Cold, rainy weekend. And yeah. Yeah. My wife said, So what do you have planned for this weekend? I said, nothing. Yes. And it was great. It was great. Yeah. Got some things done and just enjoyed hanging out with my wife this weekend.
SPEAKER_02Great. Good deal. Good deal. Well, hey, I'll think I'll have you introduced. We have a guest again today, and I'm excited about that. So I'll uh save the introduction for you.
SPEAKER_01This morning we're uh blessed to have Travis Blind with us, one of our truck drivers. Welcome, good morning. Thank you for having me. It's great to be here. I'll tell you, we we don't operate, we don't exist without our drivers. We do not, that's right.
SPEAKER_02So man, we appreciate you and all that you do. Yeah, it's been uh great to one of the things that I've gotten to do over these last four and a half years is to ride with truck drivers. And that's just been a really fun experience. Gives me kind of a you know a time when uh you know you guys are getting paid and we can have a conversation. Yes, it's a captive audience, you can't really go anywhere. I can't go anywhere. So for you guys. As my kids say, Dad, who would want to listen and talk to you for that long? Well, not very many, so that's why I have to pay them off in order to be able to do that. So hey, as some of you may remember, we uh been looking at this thing called shape as we think this quarter, uh, this three-month period about uh how God has shaped us and how that impacts our work and our play and our home. And so we're looking today at attitude. And as uh I was thinking last week, hey, who could I get to talk to that I think has a great attitude that can share a little bit about how that attitude came about? Um, Travis, you were on the top of my list, and so I just thought, hey, I grabbed you last week and said, hey, would you be willing to do this? So thanks so much for uh your willingness to come on and uh be a part of this. Not a problem.
SPEAKER_00I was definitely flattered.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So, Brian, one of the passages that uh has meant the most to me in all of the Bible about attitude comes out of the book of Philippians, and Paul is uh writing to the church at Philippi, and this comes out of the message, Eugene Peterson. Uh that's kind of his paraphrase, if you will, and it he just does such a great job of what I think God is wanting to have happen at Merrillbrose when it comes to our attitude. I'll have you read that passage.
SPEAKER_01It says, Do everything readily and cheerfully, no bickering, no second guessing allowed. Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God.
SPEAKER_02So this morning we have a trucker with a fresh air attitude. So Travis, thanks so much. Tell us a little bit about the family you grew up in first.
SPEAKER_00Uh my dad worked construction and my mom worked in fast food, and we were always on the move following my dad's construction.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So and how many of you were on the move?
SPEAKER_00How many were uh it was my older brother, my mom, and stepdad.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Okay, great. So what uh what about your family now? Who's in your family today?
SPEAKER_00Uh today I have three boys and a little girl and my wife. Okay. And what ages are the kids? Uh start with the youngest, that's Eli. He is three years old. Then we have William, he is six, and we have Lila, she is ten. And then my stepson Icton, he is thirteen.
SPEAKER_02Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_00How great.
SPEAKER_02So where what would you say is uh the reason why you have such a fresh air, positive attitude? Where did that come from? That had to come from somewhere.
SPEAKER_00Uh my dad instilled it in me younger. He said nobody wants to be around somebody that's always nagging and negative all the time. Okay. So he said try to find positive light in just about anything. You can't always look at the glass half empty. It's because it's always half full as well. So you get to choose.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So what what's one you talk about choosing, what's one daily choice that uh if somebody's listening to this, hey, what's a choice that they could make today to bring a better attitude to work or to home?
SPEAKER_00Uh you can choose to plant a seed and uh and and and positivity because you're you're you're gonna make life a lot easier that way.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So how did your faith impact this uh fresh air attitude that you have? How did your faith and coming to faith in Christ, how has that shaped how you face each day and each conversation?
SPEAKER_00Um well the Lord tells us that our our tongue can be a sword. And uh uh we need to be uh very uh cognitive of of what comes out of our mouth. And we want to try to plant seeds where er everything grows and um instead of planting uh you know negativity and it just goes in a different direction and that's not the way the Lord wants it to go. Um it's just positivity has always been something that has been easy for me just because I like seeing people happy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_00And when when people see uh you happy and then you're a follower of Christ, you know it's uh it's easier to people to see God through you and uh think, hey, I want to be a part of that team.
SPEAKER_02You know, one of the uh verses in Proverbs that came to my mind as you were talking about that was it s talks about Solomon says that the tongue has the power of life and death. Yes. And I'm just thinking, wow, I mean I can speak life into people, yes, or I can just tear people apart and in a sense kill them uh symbolically by how I speak. So I'm so glad that you learned that. So if somebody's listening to the podcast and you'd say, hey, what's what's one attitude adjustment uh or what's what's one thing that somebody could do today that would really help them to say, hey, I can choose to have a fresh air attitude today. Any any words of wisdom?
SPEAKER_00Uh just start off uh every day waking up with prayer and uh before you do anything else, you know, also uh opening up the Bible and just pick out a passage randomly, you know, because God always uh will be there exactly when you you need him for whatever situation you're in. And he seems to always open that right page for the right moment.
SPEAKER_02So it's pre-game preparation, if you will. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_00You definitely gotta have a uh plus the as a truck driver, maps are a big part of my my life. Um the Bible is a roadmap. Yeah. And it's always gonna take you everywhere you need to go.
SPEAKER_02That's right.
SPEAKER_00That's great.
SPEAKER_02So if you're listening to the podcast, you say, hey, I don't even know where to start. Um I would just encourage you to start in Matthew. It's the very first book. I mentioned that to uh somebody uh at another company last uh Friday, and they were saying, like, Matthew, like, is that in the Bible? And just had no idea uh that it was even there. So Matthew's the very first book. It gives the great introduction to Jesus, who he is, why he came, and then the next three books, Mark, Luke, John, all give different uh perspectives on this same person. So you know, even just to read, um, and there are lots of tools that you can listen, like you version. Um, you can listen or you can read, and even a chapter a day. Uh, do you have a particular pattern or what's your uh uh when you open up the Bible, what uh I I just let the Lord tell me what and I just open it up ranking.
SPEAKER_00Okay, just I I'll I'll kind of flip through it and then just stop and just start reading wherever it lands.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00God always tells me a different story every time. Every day, He always gives me a different lesson.
SPEAKER_01That's great. You know, as we talk about attitude for this podcast and this week, we were talking before we started recording, and you were talking about your home life and how it was a it was a struggle growing up, right? You didn't have a lot of money and things, and I think that plays a big part in your attitude, right? You just feel like a guy that just feels blessed to have everything. You're talking about your boots, like I'm so blessed to have these boots. You know, like that plays a huge part in how you look at life every day.
SPEAKER_00Uh well, grew up uh with dad doing construction, mom doing fast food, which that doesn't really pay the greatest when you're just a laborer. Um so we had just enough to pay the bills and get us exactly what we needed, nothing more, nothing less. Uh everything that I got as a kid was you know minimal. And uh of course I always wanted more because you as a kid you don't understand. But as you start to grow up and you start to realize, wow, this helped me appreciate everything that I have. The nice car that my wife drives, the nice truck that I drive, it's because I work hard and I appreciate everything I have. Because um, you know, growing up, you know, having you know three pairs of pants and three shirts, or you know, you just kind of rotate everything back and forth like it's uh uh you know, hey, this is something new, you know, it just uh makes you very creative and but makes you very appreciative though, definitely for the things that you have when you can actually work hard for things that you want when you're older.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, when people grow up with so much, it's just hard to be thankful. Um but for the three of us, because we didn't grow up that way, um, I mean, I I'm sure that that's a part of why I'm where I when why I live a thankful life, because I'm just so grateful that for everything that I have, because I know that it's all a gift from God. Yes, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00He he definitely blesses us with uh what we can handle. Um as long as we're I believe as long as we're good stewards with what he gives us, uh he'll continue to give us more. But sometimes when we start to be bad stewards of what he's given us, sometimes he backs it up a little bit so that we can catch up with his uh with his gifts. That's right.
SPEAKER_02Well, Travis, this you heard me say earlier that our fresh air daily challenge for this week is before you speak, ask this. Am I about to pollute this atmosphere or bring fresh air? Yes. So thanks for being a person, uh, one of our drivers who brings fresh air rather than pollution. And so we're grateful for that. So if you're listening uh today and you think, hey, how do I how do I make a difference today? Um just think about can I bring fresh air or can I bring pollution? You get to choose that. And we're just uh inviting you that before you speak, uh ask yourself, am I about to bring fresh air to this atmosphere or am I going to pollute it? So that's our uh that's our daily challenge for you this week. And we'd if you have a story about that that you'd like to share with us, uh Brian, how can they do that? Or how even if they say, hey, that's it's a struggle for me to be positive, it's a struggle for me to have a good attitude, how can they get a hold of us?
SPEAKER_01Definitely we want to come alongside you in that struggle. Um just go to Merrillbros.com, click on the prayer tab at the top of the page, and uh we will reach out to you or we'll pray for you. There's a little section there you can fill out and send to us.
SPEAKER_02Well, that that's a great segue into praying. Uh so I'd like for us to pray this morning. And uh, we had some guests uh here today, at least one guest from Uganda, which was great. And so uh you you pray you've been there a number of times uh with uh with your previous job, and so I'd love for you to pray for there's a a weekend experience coming up in New York. That's why the Ugandan uh is here in order to participate in that uh weekend experience up in New York. We have a number of people traveling, and then we have a bunch of guests that are going. And then uh Travis, I think I'll have you to pray just for the other drivers and especially people on the road. There's just a lot of um difficult stuff that happens when you're driving. And so just want you to pray for your fellow drivers and just for their fresh air that they'll contribute fresh air rather than pollution as they as they drive this week. And then I'll uh I'll wrap it up if that's okay. Perfect. Good, thanks.
SPEAKER_01Father, we just pause and give you all the praise and glory for how you bless us each day. Um God, today we have a team heading to New York uh for the way, and it's a weekend uh experience for I think 30 some guests that are coming. And uh just pray for safe travel for Gene and the team and uh that are heading there. Pray, God, that uh the guests that arrive, God, that they will I'm sure a lot of them don't know what what to expect, God, but I I know you are already there and you're gonna show up in a big way for each one of them. God, I know hearts will be changed, lives will be changed, God, all because of your grace and your love. So I'm praying, God, that their eyes would be opened, that people would just surrender and just let go of the things and the chains and the bonds that that are weighing them down this weekend. I pray that God that you would use the way as um just that that avenue to reach these folks. I'm so thankful for Gene and Ted and uh just how they serve you. And so, God, just bless them and bless the team that's going. I'm so thankful for the team and the servant's heart that you have uh given to them. I pray for Gladys, the who traveled all the way from Uganda to experience the way this weekend because the ultimate goal is to take the way to Uganda. Uh and so God, you're already in Uganda. You're working things out, you have provided a way and so I thank you for uh bringing her here and uh pray, God, for good health and and safe travel. And I pray that you would be uh just with her as she and Gene try to make plans for this the end of the year uh for Uganda or for the way in Uganda. And uh just so excited to see what you're gonna do with that. So God, we just thank you, and uh again we I just give you all the praise and glory.
SPEAKER_00Dear Heavenly Father, um we come to you and we ask for prayers for the truck drivers and all the other uh four-wheelers that are gonna be on the roads today around us and that uh that everybody drives safely, everybody pays attention. Um Lord, we pray that the truck drivers here at Merrill Brothers, if they don't know you, Lord, that uh maybe they could uh seek you out, or if they need counsel, seek one of uh one of us out. Uh that uh maybe we could explain the Lord to them. Lord, uh, and maybe if we don't have the right words, Lord, you can give them to us or we can show them the Bible where you have all the right words, Lord. That's right. Lord, we pray that um everybody uh fine-tunes all the equipment that they're driving and makes sure everything's roadworthy. Lord, we pray that uh that when truck drivers are talking to each other, they're providing fresh air um to each other and not promoting negativity um so that we can build people up and not tear them down the way. Because in in you, Lord, anything is possible and everything is positive, and that's what we're striving to be about, Lord. Amen. In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_02Eternal God, we are so thankful for how you've uniquely shaped each one of us for your purposes. And thanks for uh the fact that we get together on this podcast and be reminded of the strengths you've given us, the heart, passions for uh to do what we do. Uh our attitudes, our personality, and our experiences have all been shaped by you. And so we just give you thanks that we get to live out today a fresh air attitude, and thank you that we get to bring uh that kind of fresh air to the conversations and circumstances in which we will find ourselves today. So we just pray that supernaturally you would uh open up conversations, that they would be inspired by you, and that people would get to see a glimpse of good living and of the living God from the likes of us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, thanks again for being a part of this uh podcast today. And um the daily challenge before you speak, am I about to pollute this atmosphere or bring fresh air? So go out and bring some fresh air wherever you go. Take care. Goodbye.