Todd Reese
Episode 142

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'm sitting with a good friend across the table in our studio here in Roseville, California.

Todd Reese: Live and in person.

Japhet De Oliveira: Live and in person. There you go. You see, this is going to be fun. If you're brand new to the podcast, there are a hundred questions and they progressively become more vulnerable, closer to 100. They're about stories and experiences of this individual that you just heard, their luscious voice. And now we'll dive straight in and I'll ask you the question, number one, could you tell us your name and does anybody ever mispronounce it?

Todd Reese: Typically no, but my name is Todd Reese.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That's great. I like that you don't have any problems with that. That's fantastic. Todd, what do you do?

Todd Reese: I am a network director of human resources for Adventist Health, and essentially that means I support our employees across this organization in all of our markets. Our remote employees as well, in 35 different states, plus our medical group.

Japhet De Oliveira: Few people?

Todd Reese: Yeah, few people.

Japhet De Oliveira: How many people in the medical group?

Todd Reese: We support about 750.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, it's a lot of people.

Todd Reese: And then, so total, we're supporting about 20% of Adventist Health.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's fantastic. You enjoy it?

Todd Reese: Yeah, it's great.

Japhet De Oliveira: You've been doing it long?

Todd Reese: In this role, I've been about three years and I've been with Adventist Health about 13 years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Todd Reese: Sometime in our Sonora market, and also in our Castle Medical Center in Hawaii.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hence the shirt that you're wearing today.

Todd Reese: I'm wearing Aloha shirt.

Japhet De Oliveira: Did you see the shirt? It's very, very, it's brilliant.

Todd Reese: I mean, as they say, you can take the boy out of the island, but you can't take the island out of the boy.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do they, do they say that?

Todd Reese: Yes, they do.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, I take your word for it. That's good. Hey, Todd, are you an early riser or a late night owl?

Todd Reese: Early riser.

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

Todd Reese: Usually 5:30.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh yeah. Okay. So when you wake up in the morning, 5:30 today, what was the very first thought that went through your mind?

Todd Reese: Oh man, that is the first thought. Probably, I don't know, instantly the things that I have to do during the day started coming up, was taking my son to work today, he's 16.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Todd Reese: So he was going in early with me to the office. And so, it was like, oh, I got to get him up. And that's a challenge, because 16 year olds just want to sleep in.

Japhet De Oliveira: Bless our children.

Todd Reese: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: The first thing is to wake them up.

Todd Reese: Exactly. Get out of bed.

Japhet De Oliveira: He'll love listening to this podcast.

Todd Reese: Oh yeah, he will.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Hey, I forgot to ask you, actually, I was just kind of curious, but 13 years at Adventist Health, HR, what did you do before?

Todd Reese: I spent about 12 years working with the Adventist Development Relief Agency, which is a humanitarian aid organization with offices in about 120 countries. So I worked with them in Cambodia for a year at their corporate headquarters, off and on between posts. I was there for a total of eight years. And then, I was also posted in Africa, West Africa for about two years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Wow. That's good. That's good. That's quite a variety. So, development relief and HR, similar because?

Todd Reese: Oh, that's... Not much. I mean, I think it's interesting, because the person who hired me into Adventist Health was Kathy Raethel in Hawaii. And the unique thing about Hawaii is it's a very culturally diverse and I think she really appreciated the background I had in terms of international exposure. And I had had some experience in HR of course as well, but that was, I think, an appealing about my background.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good. That's good. Fantastic. All right, so back to the regular ones here. Personality, Todd. Would people describe you as an introvert or an extrovert, and would you agree with them?

Todd Reese: I think people would say I'm an extrovert, though I would disagree. I think ultimately I am an introvert. I enjoy time to myself or quiet time. Maybe that's because I don't get a lot of it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah, sure. Fair enough.

Todd Reese: In my role, and it's people all the time, and all the time, and with family, which is great of course. But introverts enjoy that time by themselves sometimes and find that recharging. So I think that for me it may have changed over time too.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's true. That's true. It actually does change for some people. Yeah, that's really insightful. Where were you born?

Todd Reese: I was born actually in White Memorial Medical Center.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh really?

Todd Reese: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That's fantastic. One of our hospitals.

Todd Reese: Yes. I was delivered there by Dr. Reese. But that was not in the family. It was another different Dr. Reese.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Really the coincidence.

Todd Reese: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: I bet you he must've enjoyed that.

Todd Reese: Yeah, I think so.

Japhet De Oliveira: Not mine.

Todd Reese: I think so.

Japhet De Oliveira: Not mine.

Todd Reese: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's fantastic. And then, did you grow up in that area?

Todd Reese: I was there I think until I was about almost two. And my parents moved from LA into the small town of Sonora, California. And my dad at the time when I was born, my dad was in residency, he's an ear, nose and throat physician, and he finished residency and they moved to Sonora, where he worked with private practice, but also with the hospital there, which is an Adventist Health hospital many years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Nice, nice. And when you were a child then growing up in Sonora, what did you imagine you were going to grow up to be?

Todd Reese: Oh, I had no idea. At one point I said I was going to be an otolaryngologist, like my father, but you know.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. But that was not to be.

Todd Reese: I think as I grew up and I saw, I mean, my dad was on call. He was the only ENT in that town and he was on call a lot. And there are a lot of demands and as I thought about it, I said, "That may not be where my aptitude is in terms of the sciences, let's just say." So I was more in the communication kind of side of things and that's where the path led me.

Japhet De Oliveira: And you like mission work as well?

Todd Reese: Yes, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Obviously. And you still involved in mission work?

Todd Reese: Yeah, I've been on a recent trip actually to, I guess the last thing we did was on a trip to Mexico, we were just helping a woman whose house had burned down and rebuilding that with-

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Todd Reese: ... a group of people from, who just went down, and just helping out. And I think it comes from a family history of that. My grandpa served in the island of Saipan for a time. My dad and mom, both as a doctor, he would do medical mission trips every two years out to Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, and I went on some of those, and it just kind of continued from there.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's in your DNA?

Todd Reese: I think so, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic, man. That's good. Good. Leadership question here. Are you a backseat driver?

Todd Reese: I'm assuming that means letting our employees be empowered to do their work.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes. Very good HR answer there.

Todd Reese: Yeah. Then yes. Yes. I think the people that report to me would say that they are empowered, and as long as they're adhering to our policies and doing all things that they should be doing, that they're feeling supported in what they're doing, and if taking initiative, and yeah, really don't have... I have a great team.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great. That is great. Well, the floor is open, Todd, so where'd you want to go?

Todd Reese: Well, let's jump into, let's go to 19.

Japhet De Oliveira: 19. All right. What is your exercise routine?

Todd Reese: Oh man, I find routines boring.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, all right, that's good.

Todd Reese: Okay, so number one. So my routine will vary depending on where I am. And so, this last weekend I was visiting some family up in Tahoe, and so it was more mountain biking, hiking. If I am near home, I'm probably swimming or running on trails, or strength training. So I ski in the winter, mountain bike in the summer, and we'll backpack here in a couple of weeks. So I mean there's just-

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you backpack overnight or you backpack day?

Todd Reese: Oh yeah, yeah. We'll go, yeah, planning about a four night trip coming up soon.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, wow. All right. Bless you.

Todd Reese: Yeah, you're welcome to come.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, no, no, that's okay. I think there's some things for you, Todd, and that were designed for you.

Todd Reese: Yeah, so I mean a routine, I don't know. It's not like every Monday I do this, or Tuesday. There's just, I need variety.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's good. Works for you. That's fantastic. Good. All right, that was 19. Where next?

Todd Reese: How about, let's jump up to 21.

Japhet De Oliveira: 21. All right. Oh, share the best compliment you've ever received.

Todd Reese: Oh man.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Todd Reese: Ever received? Man, this is making me not want to go up to the high. Come on, 50 here. Jeez. If these are the easy questions, Japhet. I think the nicest compliment I've ever received was probably maybe when I was in my mid-20s, and it was about someone I ran into at church, who had been a camper at summer camp where I worked. And it was 10 years later and we had campers coming through all the time, and I worked there for three summers, and I didn't remember any campers to be honest. And he just came up to me and was like, "You were the best counselor ever. It made such a difference in my life." And I think that was probably-

Japhet De Oliveira: That's pretty, that's fantastic.

Todd Reese: It was just very meaningful.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's beautiful for somebody else to remember you, and that it was good.

Todd Reese: Yeah. Positive, right.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's nice. Good. All right, that was 21. Where next?

Todd Reese: Let's go to, how about we go to 44?

Japhet De Oliveira: 44. All right, here we go. What is something that you are proud to have created?

Todd Reese: Well, I think this is something that I am proud of. I don't know if I can count this, but I think of my family.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, yeah.

Todd Reese: That is with my wife, who we've been married for 23 years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, congratulations.

Todd Reese: And we have three beautiful children and one daughter who's off at school, and then-

Japhet De Oliveira: So three beautiful children, and a daughter.

Todd Reese: Yeah. Well-

Japhet De Oliveira: Is that what you said?

Todd Reese: I have three beautiful children, the oldest of which is a daughter.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's better.

Todd Reese: Two boys, 16 and 13.

Japhet De Oliveira: I'm teasing you, I'm teasing you.

Todd Reese: Yeah, thank you for the... I know. And I don't know, just that it's a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun and it's really beautiful to see where that goes, and how they're growing into real people, adult, responsible human beings. And it's just-

Japhet De Oliveira: It's a privilege.

Todd Reese: Yeah. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: I know you're super proud of them.

Todd Reese: Does that count as something that I've built?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, we'll take it. We'll take it.

Todd Reese: We'll take it.

Japhet De Oliveira: We'll take it. You know why, because you get to define it and that's what's beautiful about it. Yeah, that's good. Good. All right. Where next? That was 44.

Todd Reese: Let's go to 52.

Japhet De Oliveira: 52. Oh. Share what motivates you. This is good for you.

Todd Reese: Well, I think I've always been motivated by helping people, which we kind of touched on a little bit. And so, two things I would say. Of course, motivation for providing for my family, but also I have that intrinsic motivation. But then, beyond that, I always knew I wanted to be in a job that had a purpose, which is why I think Adventist Health has been such a good fit, because it has a mission that I'm very aligned with. And that was also true for the humanitarian aid work that I did. So all throughout my career has been something, a role that has been really aspiring to help others and make a difference.

Japhet De Oliveira: And that's been modeled in your family. Is that where you got it from?

Todd Reese: I think so, yeah. I'd like to think so. And also, modeling it for my kids too. My daughter's in nursing school, so that's something. And then my son, he just got back from mission trip, he's been on multiples.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. Good. I'm really pleased with that. All right, that was 52. Where next?

Todd Reese: How many more questions do I have?

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, it's kind of unlimited.

Todd Reese: Really?

Japhet De Oliveira: Until I get to the point where I say to you, "Hey, we have time for two more."

Todd Reese: Okay, well-

Japhet De Oliveira: So you get to relax and enjoy, and I'll let you know.

Todd Reese: 77.

Japhet De Oliveira: 77. All right, brilliant. Oh, share one of your most cup filling experiences with us.

Todd Reese: With us. Cup filling.

Japhet De Oliveira: A cup filling experience that you've had.

Todd Reese: Well, boy, both cup draining and filling. Is that okay?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, let's try that. That was good.

Todd Reese: Okay. So it was right after the Haiti earthquake, and I was working for the humanitarian aid organization, and I was asked to go down and help organize a food distribution for about 300,000 people. And basically through that process, which was, I mean, it was very emotionally draining, just because it was post-earthquake, about a week after that I got down there. But also fulfilling, it's incredibly fulfilling to see the difference that it made in people's lives. So it was because you see both the pain, but then also the hope at the same time. And it was so, it did fill your cup for sure, but it may have had been a sieve where it was leaking out.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, sure, sure. No, no. It's very heavy to carry.

Todd Reese: Yeah, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: To see and not fix everything.

Todd Reese: Right, and that's one of the things where through that process, I really started learning about burnout, what it meant for me personally. But then as I moved and transitioned from that career into healthcare, what did it mean for our nurses, for our providers? And it kind of gave me this perspective where, here's people who are doing this every day in the ER, or giving and every day experiencing traumatic, potentially traumatic experiences with their patients or family members. And just gave me a new level of respect, I think, for our caregivers.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's great. Fantastic. Thanks for sharing that, Todd. Where next?

Todd Reese: Let's drop down to 23.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, sure. Here we go. Tell us about the most outdated piece of technology that you have that you currently use. You could say your phone. No, no. It's just a private little thing. Okay. So what is the most outdated piece of technology?

Todd Reese: Wow.

Japhet De Oliveira: And you currently still use it.

Todd Reese: How about an antenna for my television?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Todd Reese: Does that, I think that counts.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really? Are there signals that still coming?

Todd Reese: There are, yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: From where? Okay. Right. I didn't know that existed. It's great you can still do it.

Todd Reese: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Is it like a clothes hanger, where you bend?

Todd Reese: Well, I did recently upgrade to HD.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow. Look at you.

Todd Reese: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Join the future.

Todd Reese: Exactly right. Well, we've never had cable or anything like that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Clearly, right.

Todd Reese: This is outdated here. How about this? We were using Netflix back when it was DVDs, right? When you had to, you paid for the-

Japhet De Oliveira: What's a DVD?

Todd Reese: Exactly, right? Exactly. What's outdated? So we've never done that. But sometimes it's nice to have a live, I don't know if the Olympics are happening or something like that, to have-

Japhet De Oliveira: Like, just to know something's happening in the world.

Todd Reese: Right, exactly.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good for you. I'm glad you're informed. I'm teasing. I'm teasing. That's great. Hey, good for you. That's amazing. That will go down in history. All right, so where next?

Todd Reese: Oh yeah, let's go to 34.

Japhet De Oliveira: 34. All right. Tell us about a moment that a person's kindness made a difference in your life.

Todd Reese: I think, wow, there's so many.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Isn't that good?

Todd Reese: There's so many. And I think anything from, boy, a lot of family scenarios, where just over time, like I think of my grandparents and things that they have done for me, I think of my parents and supporting me through, which you would think is their job, but they went way above and beyond, and really, I think blessed for that. But also in the workplace, where I had, there was a time when I was going through a health crisis and it was probably five, six years ago I think, or maybe seven now. Time just flies. And I think of just, I was living in Hawaii and I was losing tons of weight, and people weren't really sure why. Lost 70 pounds in a few months.

It was pretty serious. And just the thoughtfulness of people. And they say Aloha exists in Hawaii and it really is true. And you feel that from the people that are there and just the little things that people would do for you, and reach out, and just to check on you. And I mean, there's probably a thousand that I could mention, things that, and people as I was even navigating through healthcare, which itself can be a challenge when you're undergoing something. And I was getting that help. And I ended up at Johns Hopkins and spent two weeks there at Johns Hopkins.

And that was quite an experience and really gave me a lot of additional perspective into healthcare, and how as a patient, what it's like. So yeah, I think that, and of course my wife and the support that I'd get there through that process too.

Japhet De Oliveira: It is amazing when family and community come together.

Todd Reese: Yeah, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: It changes your life, especially in times of deep need.

Todd Reese: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's nice. Good. All right. Where next?

Todd Reese: Let's go to 65.

Japhet De Oliveira: 65. All right. Share one word that you could describe your past and then unpack that one word.

Todd Reese: I don't like this question.

Japhet De Oliveira: Great.

Todd Reese: Wow. One word to describe it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Todd Reese: And then unpack it.

Japhet De Oliveira: And then unpack that.

Todd Reese: How do you describe decades in a word?

Japhet De Oliveira: I have to wait to see what word you choose and then I'll hear.

Todd Reese: Let's say connected.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good. All right.

Todd Reese: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: And which means what, now if you want to unpack that.

Todd Reese: Well, when I think about my life, there's just a lot of dots that have connected throughout that.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Todd Reese: And I think even through different, I've lived in California, Maryland, Cambodia, Hawaii, Spain, I think that's it. But multiple different places, multiple different continents. And what's amazing is how there's connections that flow through all of that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Isn't that incredible?

Todd Reese: And I think about a time when I was, I'll give you an example, and I don't know how much time I have.

Japhet De Oliveira: You're good.

Todd Reese: But I was in college, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was graduating with a degree in international communications and I was like, "Okay, well that's great, but what do I do with that?"

Because I could do anything with that. So I saw a booth, this is probably my senior last quarter, and there was a booth there from a university, Andrew's University, that was for advertising their new degree in international development. And I said, "I don't even know what that is. What is that?"

And they said, "Oh, it's like the work that ADRA does."

And I said, "Oh, that's what I want to do."

Japhet De Oliveira: There you go.

Todd Reese: About a month later, at my graduation from college, there happened to be a speaker from ADRA.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow, okay. All right.

Todd Reese: And she was making a passionate appeal to how they needed young people to come work for them. And so, I went up to her afterwards and said, "Hey, I'm ready. Where do you want me to go?"

Long story short, over the summer I kept emailing her, and eventually I got to their HR team, and they said, "Hey, you need more experience or you need more education."

But then I couldn't get more education, because they needed more experience to get into the education program. They wouldn't let me in. So I was trying to figure out what I was doing and happened to call back around Thanksgiving, and they said, "Oh, we just started an internship program." Literally it was Thanksgiving week. Right.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow, okay.

Todd Reese: And I remember just thinking, "Wow, the timing on this, I just..."

Japhet De Oliveira: Providential.

Todd Reese: It was providential timing. I had just finished a couple classes that I needed to, to finish my degree. Back in those days it was correspondence, Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Todd Reese: They didn't have the online just yet. So I'd finished those. I'd been around for my grandpa who unfortunately passed at that time and been there for the family to support. And so, it was good that I was there, but then I make that call and it is providential, I think. And they said, "Yeah, we've got two positions, one's in Cambodia, one's in Bolivia."

And for some reason, it would've made sense for me to go to Bolivia, because I had been in Spain for a year. I spoke Spanish, et cetera. Notice I said spoke Spanish.

Japhet De Oliveira: In the past.

Todd Reese: But I chose to go to Cambodia. And by January one, or a couple of days into January, I was there. And arrived in Cambodia, and I had an internship, I was doing that. So during that time there was a situation where my boss asked me to take this person, who was coming in from the corporate headquarters, around the country for a week. Film with her, take her around, basically the local guide. And I did that. And guess who it was? The person who had spoke at my graduation.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow, that's great.

Todd Reese: And that person ended up hiring me at the international headquarters in my first real job out of college.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's amazing.

Todd Reese: There's things like that, where there's connections that happen. And I think of when I came back from West Africa, I got my first job with Adventist Health, and I was working for two years as a recruiter for Adventist Health in Sonora. And during my time there I met a lot of people, and then eventually I was back with ADRA working. And I had this experience where I was off in Yemen, and you may have heard this story before.

Japhet De Oliveira: But do share.

Todd Reese: I had a close encounter with Al-Qaeda. And I got back to my hotel room that very night. And there was an email from one of the recruiters, who I knew from my time with Adventist Health in Sonora, who said, "Hey, you're interested in a job in Hawaii."

Japhet De Oliveira: You were like-

Todd Reese: I was like, "That is the best. That sounds the best thing."

Japhet De Oliveira: Today.

Todd Reese: And that is what led me back to Adventist Health and I haven't left. So I look at it and I say, I could say connection, but it's probably divine intervention and guidance, I think, from my perspective as a Christian.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great. That's great. And that's encouraging to anybody who's young and thinking about what could their future be.

Todd Reese: And I think for those people, if you're open to going where God wants you to go, or being willing to go and to those new experiences, and that you really can't go wrong, because there may be multiple doors open and maybe it's okay to go through multiple doors. Maybe he said, "Hey, take any of these," but be willing to take that step through. And sometimes it's in faith and sometimes it's very clear, this is what I need to do. But other times it's like, not sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's true. That's true. Well, we have time, believe it or not, for just two more numbers.

Todd Reese: Oh man.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Where'd you want to go?

Todd Reese: Well, let's go 80.

Japhet De Oliveira: 80. All right. 80 it is. It is, how would you like to change in the future?

Todd Reese: I think one way that I want to change in the future is to maybe take some time and slow down. I feel like there's so much that I want to do, and sometimes I pack it in too much, pack in too much. And even my wife was just saying this week that we've got too much going on this summer. And it's like, okay, so where's the balance between doing a bunch of things that I want to do, and things that we can do with the family, but also just taking moments where we're not doing anything? And that's probably a learning point for me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, I like that. I like that. That's good. That's wise for a lot of people.

Todd Reese: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. All right, last number.

Todd Reese: I'm going to split the difference and go with 50.

Japhet De Oliveira: 50 it is then, all right, here we go. Oh, you're going to love this. Share about who has influenced you professionally.

Todd Reese: Yeah. I think one of the big ones for me was Kathy Raethel, who was President of Adventist Health Castle. And she's the one who brought me in and I worked with her for I think almost eight years before she retired. And just learned so much about what it meant to be working, not just in healthcare, but how to be a leader, number one. And then, how to be a high-performing leader, because at that time we went through a process of this Malcolm Baldrige experience. And so, I went through that as part of the team. I was leading category five, wrote the category five of what ended up being our winning application for the National Malcolm Baldrige Award. And I would not be where I'm today, I don't think, if she had not mentored me along the way.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Todd Reese: And I learned so much from her. It's not always about how much you're doing, but the quality of what you're doing. Because for a time early on I was trying to crank out as much work as possible, but learned that. Even what may seem like simple things, like I'm tall, so what's your physical presence when you walk into a room? And things like that, that I just got so many valuable tips from her.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's fantastic. Does Kathy know this?

Todd Reese: I've thanked her multiple times, but I think I should probably send her this.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, you should. I mean, she would appreciate that.

Todd Reese: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, so yeah, that'd be fantastic. Yeah. Hey, that's really good. Todd, it has been fantastic to be able to speak. Thank you for sharing. And I say this at every episode, because I really mean it, like it's wonderful to be able to sit with a friend, or sit with someone you don't know, and ask them questions and learn about them, because we are transformed by that. We've become better human beings for it. So it's a good exercise and I'd encourage people to that. We should have had a cup of tea or something.

Todd Reese: I would agree.

Japhet De Oliveira: That would've been-

Todd Reese: We can go get one now.

Japhet De Oliveira: We can go get one now. All right. God bless you, man, and all those who listened well, and we'll connect 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 bought to you by Adventist Health through the Office of Culture.