Elia King
Episode 155

Narrator: Welcome friends to another episode of The Story and Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, welcome friends to another episode of the Story and Experience Podcast. I am super delighted. Super delighted today for a long time friend that I honestly thought I'd record him and well, we'll see. So at long last I get to record this friend and hear his stories and experiences that shaped him into the great leader that he is today. If you are brand new to the podcast, we have a hundred questions. They progressively become more vulnerable and open towards 100, and they get to choose the numbers, and we get to talk about the stories that made them who they are today. So I'm going to begin with the first 10, and I'll ask you your name. Can you tell us your name? Does anybody ever mispronounce it?

Elia King: Oh, never.

Japhet De Oliveira: No. No. No.

Elia King: Never.

Japhet De Oliveira: But yeah. So what is your name?

Elia King: Sure. My name is Elia King, and I have been called everything from the Lion King.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, nice.

Elia King: Yeah, to Elia, Eli, Ali. For a while I just went as Ed.

Japhet De Oliveira: Ed.

Elia King: My initials. I would go into Starbucks and they'd ask for my name, and I thought that was easier than Elia for some reason.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That's good.

Elia King: So it's been mispronounced just about every possible way.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you correct people?

Elia King: When people really push to know, am I really getting it right? But I always let people know when you have a name like Elia, you answer to just about anything in the neighborhood.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fair enough. That's fair enough. Elia, what do you do for work?

Elia King: I am a designer. I work as part of the creative services team at Adventist Health, and so that's my day job, but I do all kinds of creative work. I'm still a songwriter, singer.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Elia King: I enjoy creating in lots of different ways.

Japhet De Oliveira: Creativity part of your MO?

Elia King: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Where'd you get the creative spirit?

Elia King: I think quite a bit from both my parents.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah.

Elia King: Yeah. My dad was a jazz musician. Not that I'm biased.

Japhet De Oliveira: Did you have to have the jazz?

Elia King: Oh yeah, of course. Of course. Yeah. Brilliant, brilliant musician. He did a lot of things. And my mom also loves music. She's always encouraged me to pursue different creative outlets.

Japhet De Oliveira: So you still write music?

Elia King: I do.

Japhet De Oliveira: Compose?

Elia King: Yeah. It's been a while since I've set time aside to do it. But, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. Now, with the creative work, what does that mean that you do it for Adventist Health?

Elia King: Sure. Well, with what I do for Adventist Health, I work as part of the creative services team. So I'm designing presentations or pamphlets or whether it's an informational graphic that needs to go up to illustrate a bigger concept, bring meaning to things that might otherwise be unclear. So try and help visualize those in meaningful ways.

Japhet De Oliveira: And you do an exceptional job.

Elia King: Oh, thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: An exceptional job at it.

Elia King: Thank you. You're too kind.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. No, I've seen the work. To translate concepts so that people see something and it means something straight away, it's great. So well done for that.

Elia King: Well, thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: So in the morning when you get up, first of all, are you an early riser, or a late night owl?

Elia King: Oh, I like the middle of the day very much. No, I think I'm a pragmatist in that way, so if I need to wake up early for a flight, I can usually do that. But I just love sleep, so I'd say I'm probably an early riser, I guess, more often than not.

Japhet De Oliveira: And what's an early riser for you?

Elia King: I'm usually up between 05:00 and 06:00.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. First thought that went through your mind today when you got up.

Elia King: Well, I was headed for the airport today to come out and hang out with you, so of course it was gratitude.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's cool. That's cool. Hey, felt the same way, man. Felt the same way, so it's fantastic. All right, first drink of the day, Elia. Do you coffee, tea, water, liquid green smoothie?

Elia King: Oh, I'd like to say it's one of the healthy options, but it's almost always coffee.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Black, mixed, or-

Elia King: I like espresso. I like to make an AeroPress with, I have a few different friends that roast their own beans, so I love to try different roasts. But-

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you ever buy a regular bean?

Elia King: Yes. Oh, yeah. When times are tough, I will make whatever's in the cupboard-

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Elia King: But water's always a close [inaudible 00:04:46] too.

Japhet De Oliveira: Now, where were you born?

Elia King: I was born in a small town in Southwest Michigan. Eau Claire, close to Berrien Springs. But I was born at Berrien General Hospital, which I don't think operates anymore.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. After you were born there?

Elia King: Yeah, they figured they couldn't do any better, so they just shut everything down.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, dear. Oh, dear.

Elia King: No, that is not true. That is where I was born.

Japhet De Oliveira: Did you grow up there?

Elia King: I did. Southwest Michigan was home for me for about 20 years before I explored different parts of the world in college.

Japhet De Oliveira: So what did you imagine you want to grow up to be?

Elia King: Oh, I mean, my earliest aspirations were to do something, actually, interestingly, in healthcare. I wanted to be a doctor.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really? Okay.

Elia King: But I didn't have the patience for school. So yeah, explored a few different things, thought about a career in art, interestingly enough, and thought about ministry for a while. Still do. So I'm still interested in how all these things can work together.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow, that's good. You enjoy the idea of bringing things together, right?

Elia King: I do. I do.

Japhet De Oliveira: Different disciplines.

Elia King: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's fantastic. Hey, leadership question for you. Actually-

Elia King: Sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: No. No, personality question.

Elia King: Oh, okay. All right.

Japhet De Oliveira: If people were to describe you as an introvert or an extrovert, would you agree with their conclusion? Yeah. Yeah.

Elia King: I think because of jobs that I've had in the past, I think people would probably think that I was an extrovert. I've done a few jobs that required me to spend time on stage and to be comfortable in front of people, but I actually really recharge during my quiet time. So I think most people probably would be surprised that I'm an introvert until they get to know me and then they may not be so surprised.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That's fair enough. All right, here's a leadership question for teams that you've led. Are you a backseat to driver?

Elia King: Oh, I don't know. Aren't we all? I think as long as I trust the person in the driver's seat, then I don't think I am. But I think there does come a time for me where I feel like, I just don't know. I think I have to just reach up and take the wheel a little bit or help a little bit if I can.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Your kids nearly getting that age of driving as well.

Elia King: Oh. That's... Yeah, okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: You're welcome. All right. All right. All right. We won't go there. We'll see if a question comes up, but thanks for sharing. All right. The floor is open to you now. So which number would you like first?

Elia King: Let's start with, we're at what, 11?

Japhet De Oliveira: 11?

Elia King: That's my first option. Right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Tell us about the most adventurous food or meal that you've ever eaten.

Elia King: Oh, I love sushi. So for me, I'd say that I'm not especially adventuresome when it comes to food, but I'm usually willing to try something that doesn't seem too dangerous, at least once. So yeah, sushi's probably. I know that's not a very exciting answer.

Japhet De Oliveira: And you had what? Sushi with the avocado? Or-

Elia King: Oh, Yeah. Yeah,

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. I just want to see how risky it was. Okay. All right. That was 11. So where next?

Elia King: Let's go to 17.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Share what day is most special to you on the calendar and why? One day on the entire calendar.

Elia King: That would be November 28th. That's my wedding anniversary.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, well done. Well, well.

Thank you.

Elia King: When they listen to this, you will... Well done, sir.

Japhet De Oliveira: Thank you. Thank you.

Elia King: And that was quick. You knew it straight away.

I practice. I practice. When I listen to the podcast, I think about, okay, what are the answers that, so I try and keep a few of them tucked away so I don't get in trouble.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Where next then? That's 17.

Elia King: Let's see. Let's go for 28.

Japhet De Oliveira: 28. All right. If you were given an impromptu thirty-minute presentation, what would you be talking about?

Elia King: Some of the things that I can talk about... Only 30 minutes?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah.

Elia King: I love talking about music. Specifically, I love leading worship with groups. I love talking about the practice of it, which for some people, including members of my own family, is incredibly boring. It's like, why would you talk about how you choose songs? Or why would you talk about why you choose two songs in the same key and put them back to back? I'd nerd out over that stuff. I just love the idea of bringing people together and giving them something they can participate in together that's meaningful, they express their hearts. I feel like that's something I could talk about for longer than most people would want to listen to it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Not sure if that's the marker, but I like it. I like it. Hey, that's great. All right, where next? That was 28.

Elia King: That was 28. Let's do 35.

Japhet De Oliveira: 35. All right. Oh, share a special interest or unique talent that you have.

Elia King: Well, that would probably go back to that last answer. Something that has always come fairly natural for me is leading groups in music and in worship specifically. I think I got that from my grandmother. I was talking with my wife about it the other day, and before I was old enough to know how to say, no, I don't want to do that, my grandmother had already volunteered me to start singing in front of our church. And so I think there was something before I even knew I was supposed to be nervous about it, she had already cleared that roadblock for me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Church does have that effect for lots of communities, training people up.

Elia King: It does. It does. Gives people-

Japhet De Oliveira: An opportunity.

Elia King: Yeah. It gives people a voice and a place to feel at home and hopefully a safe space to express themselves.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. Hey, beautiful. All right, where next?

Elia King: Let's do 42.

Japhet De Oliveira: 42. All right. Think about your phone. What's the picture on the background of your phone? Tell us the story behind that.

Elia King: This is incredibly boring. I can show you. It is. Oh, it's off right now. It's just black.

Japhet De Oliveira: Black. Great.

Elia King: Just a black background.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good [inaudible 00:11:18]

Elia King: For a little while. I was going through a phase where I was trying to just make my phone as boring as I possibly could. I wanted to spend less time on my phone.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good.

Elia King: So yeah, I just set a black background so I would not be, yeah. So that's a boring question too. So let's do the next one. That was 42?

Japhet De Oliveira: 42. Yeah.

Elia King: Let's do 43.

Japhet De Oliveira: 43. All right. Oh, tell us about the best gift you've ever received.

Elia King: Oh, best gift I've ever received. I remember a kid, my mom actually caught this on home video. There was a Christmas where my grandma and grandpa had wrapped up a bible for me, and it was the first time that I had been given one. And the enthusiasm, my mom showed me the video not too long ago, just the raw enthusiasm. It was like I couldn't believe that I had been given them. And so my response was, "It's a Bible." And when no one was caught up in the enthusiasm, I said, "I could read it." And just for whatever reason, that's been something-

Japhet De Oliveira: That's actually brilliant. That's really beautiful. And it is.

Elia King: It is. It is.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Elia King: And I could.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. And you could and can. Yeah. All right. Where next then?

Elia King: Let's do 50.

Japhet De Oliveira: 50. All right. Oh, share about who has influenced you professionally.

Elia King: Oh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Elia King: I've had some good professional influences. One of them is sitting across the table from me now. I've had good friends who've done that. I would say my dad has been a really big influence. We lost my dad, as you know, just a few weeks ago.

Japhet De Oliveira: I know.

Elia King: But my dad encouraged me to always pursue opportunities that were in front of me, not to be afraid to try those things.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good.

Elia King: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good. To be brave.

Elia King: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. Was he brave as well?

Elia King: He was. In many ways, he took the responsible path. So he loved music. Always dreamed that he'd be able to be a musician professionally. And he probably could have, except that paying the bills meant he needed regular income. You've heard that joke, right? That the difference between a large pizza and a professional musician?

Japhet De Oliveira: No.

Elia King: The pizza can feed a family.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh wow. That's low.

Elia King: So my dad always dreamed of doing that, but he also knew when it came to priorities, he was able to set his dreams, he didn't completely set them aside. He played music his entire life. But when it came to providing for his family, that was the most important thing for him.

Japhet De Oliveira: If people look at you and people know you really well, what do you have most in common with your dad?

Elia King: I don't know if this is something that people would recognize right away, but the thing my dad and I shared that more than anything else was we both had a really stupid sense of humor. Just playing dumb, that was like we had this back and forth shtick that he and I could do that. And that was one of the things that... I can be stupid with a lot of people, but the way that I could play stupid with my dad with something special.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic, man. Hey, that's good. It's good to have those life memories.

Elia King: Yeah. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, brother. Where next?

Elia King: Let's see, where were we?

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, we were at 50.

Elia King: Was that 40? 50?

Japhet De Oliveira: 50, yeah.

Elia King: Let's do 58.

Japhet De Oliveira: 58. All right. What is something small that you're really passionate about?

Elia King: In a literal way?

Japhet De Oliveira: Could be.

Elia King: It goes back to some of the nerdy stuff we talked about earlier. Guitar picks, having the right guitar pick-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. I would imagine.

Elia King: In the right shape, the right thickness, the right bevel on the edge can make all the difference in the sound in ways that most people probably aren't paying attention to. Probably don't matter to most people, but there's something about that connection with the instrument when you've got the right pick and it's just the right one.

Japhet De Oliveira: That is literally small.

Elia King: It is literally a small thing.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. I like that.

Elia King: Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Hey, that's good. All right. Where next?

Elia King: That was 57?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. No, no, no, it was not. That's a really good question. All right, this is great for you. If you had to endorse a brand, what would it be and why? Elia King endorses this.

Elia King: In the world of music, I've played both Taylor and Martin guitars and been really happy with both. But there's also a brand called Larrivée that's, some people have said it's a perfect blend of the two. So I might take the road less traveled and I don't have an endorsement with them. But that's a brand that I'd encourage, if you're a guitarist and you haven't checked them out, look them up.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. All right. Good. Good.

Elia King: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. That was 57. Where next?

Elia King: Let's do 65.

Japhet De Oliveira: 65. All right. Oh, share one word that you could use to describe your past, then can you unpack that one word?

Elia King: Meandering.

Japhet De Oliveira: Meandering. Okay. All right. All right. All right.

Elia King: Here's how I would unpack that. At various stages in my life, I've thought that I had a pretty clear sense of who I was and where I was supposed to be. And then through one turn of events or another, some conversation, some ride in a car with a friend, things for me have taken unexpected turns and sometimes those things have been good. Sometimes they've been surprising in less good ways. But in the end, I'm really grateful for all the twists and turns because they've brought me to the place that I am. They've made me the person that I am. So even though things were not necessarily according to plan, I'm not a doctor like I dreamed I'd be when I was six, I do get to work in healthcare now, and I get to care for people in ways that I never would've expected.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good. That's really beautiful. All right. Where next?

Elia King: Let's do 72.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Tell us about what you want to do when you retire, and then why are you waiting?

Elia King: Oh, well, what is retirement?

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh yeah. Okay. Define that. Good luck.

Elia King: Yeah. I have always dreamed of building guitars, but I'm not very good in the wood shop, so that's why I'm waiting. That's why I'm waiting. I would say as another, maybe as a secondary answer to the question, though, I've been through some things in my life, most recently, in fact, losing my dad and it's had me dreaming of a second career, maybe in therapy, maybe as a counselor. So part of what I'd love to do, even when I'm not able to work with my hands anymore, is to work as a counselor, to help people navigate some of the big moments in their life, to walk with them through those things and to let them know things are going to be okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. I think that truth is, I know you pretty well and I think you would be a phenomenal therapist, counselor. Yeah, you would.

Elia King: Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: You would do really well. There are a lot of people who rely on you and who you've helped through life. And so yeah, I look forward to that chapter one day.

Elia King: Thank you. Me too. Me too.

Japhet De Oliveira: Not today.

Elia King: No. Not today. Not today.

Japhet De Oliveira: No. But I do. I do. All right, where next?

Elia King: What was that one? Was that 80?

Japhet De Oliveira: No, that's 72.

Elia King: Oh, let's do 80.

Japhet De Oliveira: 80. All right. How would you like to change in the future?

Elia King: Oh, I'd like to become more handsome, more... No, that's not the right. I think I'd like to learn to be a better listener. Some of the bigger moments of regret in my life are moments where I think I rushed too quickly, either to give my own answer or to tell someone what I thought they had to do, or just I didn't allow myself the space to listen. I think that's what I'd like to be as I get older, is a better listener.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's good. That's good. That is a great gift in communication and connecting with people. Right?

Elia King: Agreed. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, that was 80. So where next?

Elia King: Let's do 84.

Japhet De Oliveira: Where do you go to find peace?

Elia King: To the quietest room in my house, which is hard to find sometimes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Elia King: For me, I find peace a lot when... One of the things I do to fend off stress and anxieties, I'll pick up my guitar and play some songs. So it doesn't really always have to be a quiet place. But we've created a little area for a fire pit in our backyard and I love to sit out by the fire and just play some chords. Yeah. Sometimes songs that I already know and sometimes just noodle away on something new.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good, man. That's good. Hey, it's beautiful. Is the fire pit hard to lighten?

Elia King: It's not. No.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh. Great.

Elia King: It's very easy. Very easy.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That's good. It may be hard for me, but that's great. All right. 84. So where next?

Elia King: Let's do 89.

Japhet De Oliveira: 89. All right. What's the most impactful no you've said recently? Yeah.

Elia King: I'll be honest. No is an answer that's hard for me to give sometimes. I'm not very good at it, so I'm trying to remember. That's one of the ways that I feel like I have some growing to do because I feel a sense of responsibility for the people I care about. Honestly, even people I don't care about. I have a hard time saying no sometimes, so I don't know if I have an answer. Maybe that's the answer.

Japhet De Oliveira: Maybe that's the answer.

Elia King: The answer is no, I don't.

Japhet De Oliveira: If you think about your life and you think about all the turns, the meandering that you mentioned earlier, were some of them created by you saying no to something?

Elia King: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Elia King: I think so. I think of a time when you and I worked together-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, we did.

Elia King: And there were a lot of really good things that came out of that season. But I also recognized how fast my kids were growing up.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. They did.

Elia King: They're 12 and 10 now, and they haven't slowed down at all.

Japhet De Oliveira: Amazing kids.

Elia King: But I realized that I was working a lot and I was missing a lot of the moments where they were growing up. I was missing recitals. We were doing good work, we were doing good things, and yet I saw these things slipping by. And so I remember when I said, I can't keep working in ministry in this capacity. I can't keep doing this. I have to do something that will allow me to be there when my kids are having those moments. And that was a no that was really hard for me.

Japhet De Oliveira: But it was such a good no.

Elia King: Oh, it was so good.

Japhet De Oliveira: Such a good no.

Elia King: It was so good.

Japhet De Oliveira: Such a good no. Yeah.

Elia King: I was afraid of what I might miss out on, and yet I also recognized that there were things that I was going to miss out on if I kept saying yes to everything else.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. That's a great example of impactful no.

Elia King: That was one of the more formative no's in my life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Brilliant. Thank you. All right. That was 89.

Elia King: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Where next?

Elia King: Let's go to 91.

Japhet De Oliveira: 91. Describe a time in your life when you had to learn about forgiveness.

Elia King: This is a season for me where I'm learning about forgiveness. Very shortly before my dad passed away, he had some friends who came to visit. They really wanted to see him, but this was in his final hours. And I felt very protective of that time for myself, for my mom. And these friends were very persistent about seeing my dad. And I still am working through how to forgive them because I felt like those minutes were precious and they were mine. But I also recognize that he was very, one of the things that I've learned about my dad and keep learning about my dad is that as he affected people's lives, he was meaningful to them too. And part of the process, I think of me forgiving is recognizing that, that as much as I love my dad, as much as I want to keep the person that he is for myself, he was also someone special for other people too. So I'm working through a season of forgiveness right now, which is, I'll get there. I'll get there.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That is good. That's strong. I can't believe it. We have time for two more only.

Elia King: All right.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Where do you want to go with your last two numbers?

Elia King: Let's do 97.

Japhet De Oliveira: 97. All right. Ooh, tell us about a time when you did the right thing. You had all these options and you were like, nope, I'm going to do the right thing.

Elia King: Oh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Elia King: So there was a time where I was really thinking about working as a teacher and there was a road that opened in front of me and there was no way this should have opened up.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Elia King: I had substitute taught in a classroom for about a month in Texas, and I loved it. And the nature of the class was they needed a sub to come in because they were doing some standardized testing with the students. So they needed someone basically to keep things going while they were working with some students who had not done as well with their pre-testing. So I came in and I worked and I loved it. It was fifth grade classroom and it was all the good things and all the bad things that there should be in a fifth grade classroom.

And when I was done with my month long assignment, I thought, man, if there was ever an assignment like that available to me, I would take it again in a heartbeat. And a couple of months later, the principal of the school called and said, "We know you're still working on your degree. We'd like to offer you a job in fifth grade." I mean, it was all the things that I never thought would be possible.

At the same time, I had an offer to start working in graphic design and I had to choose, and it felt like there were these two really great options. And I chose design because I felt like it was the right place for me, and I couldn't explain why. Everything else would've said, this door is open, you should walk through it. And yet for some reason I could not make that choice. So I continue to work in design today. Strangely.

Japhet De Oliveira: Fantastic for us and for many others as well who are blessed by your creativity. That was great. All right, last one, last number. What would you like to?

Elia King: We go up to number 100, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Mm-hmm.

Elia King: All right, let's do 100.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. All right. Well Elia, if you would, tell us one question that you don't want to answer.

Elia King: That question for me has always been, did you do enough? Because I constantly worry that I haven't, I always think maybe there's one thing more that I should have done or one thing more that I should have said. And in many ways I think that can prompt us to do more and to do better. And I think the unhealthy outcome of that question is it leads us to regret because there are things that we will always wish we-

Japhet De Oliveira: We have no control over. Right. Yeah.

Elia King: Yeah. We wish we could change. So that for me is the question that's always hard. What more should I have done?

Japhet De Oliveira: It's a good question actually for everyone. I mean, I think we're all faced with the opportunity to maybe do more.

Elia King: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Care more, love more.

Elia King: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Listen more.

Elia King: Sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure. Elia, it's been an absolute pleasure.

Elia King: Same.

Japhet De Oliveira: As expected, brother.

Elia King: Same. Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: As expected. So thank you for sharing. For everyone listening, I just want to remind you that this is actually something that's really important in building not only the stories of those that you hear, but actually the transmission that happens in your own soul as well. The more you ask, the more you learn about somebody, you are changed as well. So I encourage people to do the same. We should have actually had a cup of coffee here. It's a bit late, but it may have been a bit good as well. But encourage people to do it. So thank you again for taking time.

Elia King: Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. And God bless everybody and we'll connect again soon.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us for the Story and Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your story and experience at adventisthealth.org/story. The Story and Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health through the office of culture.