The Plain Values Podcast EP #12 – Griffin Long on God’s Work Through Special Needs

Griffin Long:

The whole community suffers when everyone is not included. How does God

Marlin Miller:

Do it where he uses children that are less than abled or however you want to say it, disabled, special needs, all of those things. And he seems to do that. I am not saying on purpose or anything, but he allows those things to bring him glory and to show us certain aspects that we would miss in so many other ways. We just had a friend of mine named Griffin Long in the studio, and Griffin shared his family story, his own journey into the process of starting an organization called Sacred Ground. And Sacred Ground takes care of adults with special needs and they bring day services, not, I was almost going to say daycare, and it’s not daycare, but they provide services for adults with special needs. And you might know that my wife and I have a few kids with Down Syndrome. We live in the world of special needs with tons of friends that have children that are just really, really special.

And this is a topic that I could talk about for hours. Probably my favorite part of the interview was when Griffin shared about his early friend Maggie, and I say early, it was early in his career as a service provider, but Maggie was a really, really special lady. And hearing how the Lord used her to light a fire inside Griffin, just absolutely, I just love it. It’s so wonderful. If you enjoy somebody with special needs in or around your family and you care about the dignity of people that are on the margins, this would be a fantastic episode to watch. Griffin’s family, his wife, his work and his passion for bringing those people in from the margins in from being outcasts is absolutely just totally magnetic and it’s so good. I have no doubt that you’ll enjoy this conversation very much. This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Azure Standard. A while back I had a chance to sit down with the founder, David Stelter, right here at the table. And we had a great conversation. I love the Azure story. They started out as farmers in back in the seventies, and I think in 1987, they began a nationwide food distribution company. And guys, they are non GMO organic. They do it right, they do it so well. And you can get a truck to drop food right in your town. Check ’em ou*@***********rd.com and tell ’em Marlon and Plain values sent you.

You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to this to hear more of the story. I know a bit of it, but I have been really excited just to sit and just talk. Can you go all the way back? So when we first met, one of the things that left an indelible mark on Lisa and I was the story of the Mexican restaurant. Oh

Griffin Long:

Yeah.

Marlin Miller:

What was that guy’s name? And can you tell that whole story again?

Griffin Long:

Sure, sure. So this would’ve been right after I graduated from Malone, so just getting into careers and was working in a group home in Canton. And Maggie was the individual that I served. And when it came to be dinnertime, well, I should back up, she wasn’t typically the person in the home that I was directly supporting. There were others that I would typically work with. And for whatever reason that evening I was needed to help with Maggie. So I was familiar and kind of knew her a little bit, but didn’t know a lot about her life and how she does things. This was new for me. So anyway, it came to be dinnertime and Maggie went in to go out to eat, which was her custom. Every night she would go out to El Campesino. And for me, watching her and her staff leave every night to go out to dinner to El Campesino was always confusing to me because there was an El Campesino, maybe a half mile from the group home in Canton. And then there’s another El Campesino in Massillon that 25 minute drive away.

And she always insisted that we’re going to Massillon. And so here I have my first night working with Maggie and I’m thinking, oh, maybe I can convince her just to go to the one two minutes away instead of taking the time to go all the way to Massillon. And ultimately she held her ground and said, no, we’re going to Massillon, which I accompanied her. And we drive out there, and it took me about two seconds to realize why we were going to Massillon, because we walked into the restaurant and every single person we passed said with Joy loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear, oh, la Maggie, oh, la Maggie, Hoola Maggie, and she’s a celebrity. And she’s coming in and waving, saying, Hola guys. Hoola, Hola guys. And it was like she went home for dinner. And needless to say, moving forward all the times I got to be with Maggie and support her. I never once again tried to persuade her to go to the easier, more convenient location because it was an experience not just for her, but for me too, to get to be a part of that.

Marlin Miller:

How do you think that that happening, that event, what do you think it did in your heart? Because your entire life has now been shaped in the service of kids with special needs? What did it do?

Griffin Long:

I think it really reaffirmed what this drive, this longing that was already within me for years before that had had this desire to bring people into community. And not only for the sake of the one who might be on the margins, but for the whole community. The whole community suffers when everyone is not included. And so that was something, especially through my college years that I thought a lot about, and I’m not a big book reader, but if I was reading a book, it was about community. And so you can read those stories in a book, but then you get to actually step in and experience things like that. And yeah, it kind of reaffirms, I guess what was within me. If I could create that moment over and over and over again throughout my life, then it would’ve been, it’d be an amazing life. Yeah. When we first met you were

Marlin Miller:

Also sharing, I don’t remember the name of the book this morning. I was in our bedroom looking through our bookshelves. I know I’ve got a copy of that book that you built Sacred Ground around, or I believe you built it around the thinking inside that one little book. And all I can think of is Henry Nolan or however you say his name, and I’ve read a few of his books. It’s not him, right? It’s not him.

Griffin Long:

No. Yeah, I honestly, I have lost track of that book, but we were handing out mass copies of that.

Marlin Miller:

I know I have a copy around

Griffin Long:

Here somewhere. I have one somewhere, but it’s been a while since I’ve pulled it out and I’m blanking on the title

Marlin Miller:

Myself. It’ll come back to us in a bit. Well, there’s something so real about what you said with when the marginalized, when the left out get left out, the whole community suffers. Let’s go all the way back. Let’s go all the way. You and Rachel have three kids.

Griffin Long:

Correct.

Marlin Miller:

Tell us a little bit about your family. Tell us about just the very, very, the high level

Griffin Long:

Points of your journey so far. Sure. So Rachel and I met, it would’ve been my senior year of college, and she would’ve been done a couple years. And we had been on a couple trips to China together through Malone service learning program, and we got to volunteer in orphanages in China. And that left a huge impact on both of us. So the kids in these orphanages would’ve all had special needs. So having an experience like that together before we were even a thing.

Marlin Miller:

So you weren’t dating,

Griffin Long:

You

Marlin Miller:

Were just friends?

Griffin Long:

Yeah, the first time we went, we hardly even talked to each other. We were in the same group, but we didn’t really interact much, but we had the same experience. And then a couple years later, we had an opportunity to go again, and we were the only two from that trip, other than the host who was leading it, who returned. And so we really started flirting then you might say. But I guess from the very beginnings of our relationship, were being exposed to people on the margins, and that was something that was valuable experience for each of us.

Marlin Miller:

Did either of you grow up with family?

Griffin Long:

I mean, I have a brother older than me. She has twin siblings that are older than her, but there was no, and I guess in regards to special needs, is that what you’re Yeah, I’m sorry. That’s what I meant. There was no one in our families who would have any disability or special needs, but that was, if I’m backing up even more, I don’t know how far you want me to back up, but the real formative time for me, where I started to really think through this inclusion was when I was in high school and we had a hot tub, and I would sit outside in this hot tub most nights, look at the stars, and there was this one constellation that always caught my attention, and I would just sit there and stare at it. And it was, I think it’s called PLE eighties, and there was this real tight cluster of stars. And then there’s, in that little cluster, there’s one that’s kind of on the outside and there’s one that’s closest to it. And almost to me, I would always think about, oh, it’s trying to pull it in to be with the whole rest of the group. So I would contemplate this inclusive approach to life from high school. And I think that if someone asked me What’s calling on your life, that is what it would be really very general, I guess.

But I’ve had opportunities since high school to live that out in different settings. And I think sacred ground and getting that going has been the greatest of those opportunities for me. Wow. Well, the ple are

Marlin Miller:

Absolutely. Yeah. I love astronomy as well. And the seven sisters, as they’re called, are absolutely just a gorgeous star cluster. You had the depth of thought to see that in high school, and that’s incredible to see that one star on the outside. I’m sorry. I’m actually shocked. I

Griffin Long:

Wanted to be the one pulling that in. And really, I had an amazing youth pastor growing up who I lived out in the country, but the church was just like an eighth of a mile down the road, and he lived right there in the parsonage, and he poured into my life. And that relationship to me is probably the most transformative, valuable relationship that I had throughout my entire life. Kind of set me on this path, I think, and helped me become aware of God’s presence and what that means, not only for me, but with relationships and yeah.

Marlin Miller:

What was the pastor’s name? Jeff Grant. Jeff Grant. Is he still

Griffin Long:

Around his wife Carol too. Him and his wife. He is still around. We haven’t been able to keep in touch much over the last number of years. But yeah, I mean, I’m forever thankful for the time he took to invest in me. Yeah. Wow.

Marlin Miller:

Did he direct you towards that or was it the Lord himself that steered you into

Griffin Long:

The world of special needs? Oh, I don’t know that I ever talked with Jeff about special needs, really. And even coming out of college, I had this part-time role in the group home where I met Maggie,

And then I was working as a substitute teacher for a while, and then I spent a few years as a case manager for people with severe and persistent mental illness, certainly people on the margins and loved it. Just the gift to get to know a lot of these people that the bulk or the majority of the common people in our communities would never get to meet. I felt like the communities getting robbed by not knowing these amazing people. And so yeah, I guess whatever reason someone might be on the margins wasn’t necessarily so important to me, but just the community needed to get to know some of these folks for their benefit, both mutual benefit. Yeah. Wow. So you and Rachel get married? We get married, yes. And then we had Isaiah, he’s our oldest. He’s 11 now. Just finished his first year in a big school system. Did awesome. And he is a really inquisitive, thoughtful young kid and smart. All three of ’em are smart. And then Thomas is our middle son. He has quite a story of overcoming challenges from birth, and he was born as a result of an accident. And then he was, I guess born at 29 weeks. He was two pounds, 10 ounces.

Marlin Miller:

Oh my goodness.

Griffin Long:

In the NICU for 51 days. And as a result of all of that process, he has cp, cerebral Palsy, but he’s a rockstar. He’s one of the most resilient people you’ll ever meet.

Marlin Miller:

And he’s how old now?

Griffin Long:

He is just turned 10. And then our daughter is Ellie. She is going to turn eight soon. And yeah, I mean all three of our kids as part of our story I guess has, they’ve overcome quite a bit of medical challenges, you might say. And I think, yeah, she’s awesome too. All three of ’em are incredible kids. But yeah.

Marlin Miller:

You probably don’t know this, but you guys came over a while back with your kids. It’s probably been a year or two or more. Our daughter still prays la. I don’t know how she, yeah, she prays for LA quite a bit actually. So just so you know,

Griffin Long:

It’s pretty cool. Yeah, that’s awesome. LA can connect with kids so Well, we were just camping and this was 12 dads, this might be a sidetrack, but 12 dads from college that we still all, once a year we go camping from Memorial Day weekend and then there was 30 kids. We all bring our kids. No wives allowed, just dads and

Marlin Miller:

Kids. Sons or kids? All kids. I mean obviously Elliot is there.

Griffin Long:

And so Ellie met a little girl, Nora, and they just were attached at the hip the whole time. But just to say she connects one-on-one with people and it’s really fun to watch. But yeah, I have a feeling I might know where she gets that from.

Marlin Miller:

I’m not sure. Mom. Definitely. Mom. I don’t know. How do you think that your work in the world of all of these different angles with kids that have special needs, how has it impacted you and Rachel as you guys have built your family now you have children that have walked some of those roads. What has it done in your marriage? How has it impacted your family?

Griffin Long:

Yeah, I think those first, when our kids were young, it was hard. And so we got a little taste of life. When you have a child who’s got all sorts of medical conditions in speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, just appointments out the wazoo,

Marlin Miller:

Feeling

Griffin Long:

Guilty that you can’t do all the homework for each of these therapies that you’re supposed to be doing. Feeling like If I don’t do this, I’m failing my child. That was really, really hard those initial years. But we’ve also, as hard as it was, we’ve gotten to see miracles as a result of our children. Thomas was born and they discovered two heart conditions when he was in the nicu. And they told us we’re going to try to wait as long as we can to do heart surgery because we want to give him as much time as possible to develop, but if we can make it to age five before we do this heart surgery, then that would be great.

Marlin Miller:

So 29 weeks he was born, how long was he in the NICU for?

Griffin Long:

51 days. And then he came home on oxygen and just the whole deal. That was a crazy time. We were in the middle of moving and it was just wild. But at his, so when he turned two, we had to do these regular evaluations and checkups to make sure this heart condition wasn’t getting worse and that they didn’t need to do surgery sooner. When he was two, the doctor looked at his tests and said, both of these conditions have resolved. They’re gone get

Marlin Miller:

Out of here.

Griffin Long:

He had a hole in his heart, he had a valve issue that was going to need stretched and all those things aren’t supposed to just resolve.

Marlin Miller:

And they were gone.

Griffin Long:

They were gone. They were gone. And I know we praise God for that. And that’s not, that type of healing doesn’t come in every situation obviously, but we got to see miracles because of our son and how he came into the world. And so coming back to your original question, how it strengthened our marriage, our relationship definitely put strain and stress and there were significant challenges, but also there’s a level of intimacy there that, I mean, I wouldn’t think we’d have that had we not gone through those early days. Praise God, all three of our kids are doing well. And for Thomas, there is and will always likely be some challenges for him physically, but we are in a little bit of a sweet spot right now, I think age-wise for our kids, I expect when they be getting into teen years, it’ll get harder again in a different way. But we’ve had a little bit of a reprieve I guess, from some of those ongoing challenges that so many families are facing throughout the entire lifespan of caring for their children.

Marlin Miller:

Are his medical needs, like you said, there’s a bit of a reprieve there. Is it that his health has really kind of stabilized and your concerns are

Griffin Long:

At a minimum? So those early years with cp, it’s not something that, at least in our understanding, we’re not an expert on this, but in our understanding with cp, it’s not something that will really get worse over time, but it’s those early years, you’re kind of discovering what’s the potential here? We didn’t know will he ever walk, will he talk will, all of these questions with physical abilities.

And he walks, he wore leg braces for a couple years and he doesn’t need those anymore. And he played in first friends basketball and I was the coach and him and Ellie were on the same team and just, it’s amazing to watch him, but then you also will notice his coordination, his balance, there’s things that are impacted. And so he spent a lot of time getting knocked down and getting right back up. And he’s knocked his front teeth out, I think three times now just because the coordination. There’s a clumsiness, there’s so riding his bike or just walking down a hall and not seeing something and a trip for him is not just I trip and fall and I get up and shake it off, but there’s a delayed reaction or something and he’s not able to brace himself. So yeah, he hits harder, he hits harder, he just hits harder. But I don’t know, God gave him a personality where he wants to push through all that stuff and it’s so fun to see him be resilient and to, yeah, it’s not going to stop him. So we’re at a point, I guess, where we realize this is something that he’s going to be working with his whole life, but it’s not going to stop him.

Marlin Miller:

And he’s okay with that. He’s good.

Griffin Long:

I’m sure that’ll come and go too. I am sure he’ll have periods of time where he’s asking God, why do I have this? That’s not fair. It’s not. But God is also going to be glorified through it too.

Marlin Miller:

So you just stepped in what I was going to ask about because there are, how do you think, God, this is a hard question for me to ask because I’m thinking about our own kids and all the families that I know who have kids with special needs, how does God do it where he uses children that are less than abled or however you want to say it, disabled, special needs, all of those things. And he seems to do that. I am not saying on purpose or anything, but he allows those things to bring him glory and to show us certain aspects that we would miss in so many other ways. What is one characteristic or thing that you’ve learned about him by watching and parenting? Thomas? This episode of The Plain Values Podcast is being brought to you by my friends at Kentucky Lumber. Derek and I were talking this morning and he shared a story about how they like to do business, and they like to do business with people that are like them, and they like to be treated in a way that they treat their own customers.

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Griffin Long:

My initial thought is he’s a redeemer. That’s why he can do it, and that’s why he does it or how he doesn’t. He’s a redeemer. And no matter how we end up in these positions where life is hard, the only one who can redeem it is God.

And of course he’s glorified in that process. And one of the scriptures I think is probably for a lot of families who are impacted by special needs, the scripture John nine, about why the man was born blind. And Jesus says it wasn’t the sin of his parents or this or that. It was so that the glory of God would be revealed in him. And we get to have a front row seat to that process playing out. And it’s not always easy to trust that it will, or you definitely don’t know how it will, but we know it will. Wow,

Marlin Miller:

There are so many of those stories. There’s so many times that I talk to families who have kids with special needs. And I mean, would you trade any of this for anything

Griffin Long:

I say all the time, I’m living my dream. And that’s an honest, A lot of people chuckle when I say that, but it’s the truth, honest truth. Yeah.

Marlin Miller:

So Beth’s a perfect segue into sacred ground. Where did all this come from? How did the idea come? I’m just going to be quiet. You

Griffin Long:

Go to town first. I would just say every idea that I have had for this has positioned me to receive something better. My ideas, they fall short time and time and time again, and then God shows us the next better thing. And so I think it starts with that. What I would say God’s calling on my life is to be that person, bringing people in from the margins for the benefit of the whole group and having that kind of mindset, that openness to how that can take shape. I guess I kind of had a winding path, but then I used to be in mental health work, and that worked too. It was in Spring Haven. That was really what brought me down into Holmes County was my work at Spring Haven, and again, serving folks who were struggling and having a tough time in life, specifically people with more severe and persistent mental illness.

But then it was through relationships that I built doing that work and what brought me down into this area that I got to meet some other folks who had a common, they saw a common need in the community. There was a lack of options for people with disabilities. And my mind, we were going to start by launching this residential program. I wanted to provide housing and a place for people to live. And what we decided with the wisdom of the group, I guess of these first, the founders of Sacred Ground, we decided we would start with the community needs assessment. And so we had some community meetings. I met you at the very first one. I don’t know why the table that you were at was also Ivan Miller was there too. And meeting the two of you was maybe the clearest affirmation to me that we were on the right path.

Marlin Miller:

Ivan from Kind Lumber.

Griffin Long:

Yeah. And so I met you and him that night too. But anyway, through this process of doing these community meetings and assessment, there were four primary needs that emerged. Residential wasn’t one of them, but it was adult day services, opportunities for socialization, transportation, and then respite for families. And so we decided we would try to design a program to meet those four needs. And so we decided we’d start with a day service. And again, in all my planning and work, I found a location that I thought was just going to be amazing, and it was going to be basically one room, an open empty room where we’d have tables and chairs and we would just really be creative about how we would do this curriculum and provide these opportunities. Well, that fell through a couple months before we wanted to launch the program. And then we got connected at Grace in Berlin, and we have a gym, a commercial kitchen, four classrooms, garden space outside. We have all of these opportunities for people, and God had a better idea than I did. And so

Marlin Miller:

What year did all this happen?

Griffin Long:

So we did these meetings in the beginning of 2020, and so we had three community meetings. The third one was in March right before everything shut down

Marlin Miller:

Really

Griffin Long:

From COVID. And so we decided we would kind of spend some time just getting ourselves established, established a nonprofit, and I was named executive director and recruited a board and just kind of waited for the dust to settle from COVID. And then we launched our program in April of 2022. At that time, we had myself who was full-time and then a part-time staff person to help, and we served five people. And

Marlin Miller:

What did you think it would turn into? How many people did?

Griffin Long:

Yeah, I remember I did these three year projections. And so now we’re just hitting our third year. April of 2025 was our third year and three year anniversary. Those initial projections that I did, we had surpassed our three year projections within about six months of launching the program. And so now fast forward, I guess we have a second site in Apple Creek and we serve about 60 people. We have as many staff now as I thought we would have participants at this time. Are you kidding? So we have 20 staff and we serve about 60 people. Some of those staff are part-time, so if you want full-time equivalent, it’d be probably more like 12 or 13. But wow. Yeah, God has blown me away. That’s amazing.

Marlin Miller:

Where do you think sacred Ground is going to be in another three to five years?

Griffin Long:

I mean, I have lots of thoughts and intentions of where this might go, but my biggest responsibility in my mind is to not get in the way of God. And so I try to be faithful every day and making sure what he’s providing us with is stewarded well. And so

We are still working on residential, and that is a big need. And so many families are out there wondering, who will take care of my adult child when I no longer can? Or maybe even thinking, is there another setting where this person might be able to thrive and flourish even more in their adult life? So we’re still working on residential. I have ideas about other things to add to our day services, employment opportunities, supported employment. We want to do more to support families and caregivers too. So there’s lots of ideas, but God kind of decides which ones are going to happen next.

Marlin Miller:

How can we pray for you, for your family, for Sacred Ground? What comes to the top of your mind there?

Griffin Long:

Wisdom. I guess as far as Sacred Ground goes, we are offering this program in a very generous community and there are so many opportunities, resources available. And so part of my job has been learning what to say no to, or at least not now. There’s lots of things that have been presented. When are you going to do summer programming for kids? When are you going to do this and that? And all of them, I want to do them all because the need is there and I want to serve people, but we can’t do them all right away. And so we’ve grown faster than I expected. And the reason for that really has been we have attracted incredible staff. Our staff are amazing. They are truly incredible people. And so that’s the number one challenge for most programs is finding quality staff. And God has just taken that challenge off the table. We have been able to attract incredible people

Marlin Miller:

And then keeping them,

Griffin Long:

Yes, we try to take care of them and we don’t want to give them any reason why they’d want to go anywhere else. I think they’re attracted to our mission and our values, which are central to everything we do as a program. And then once they’re there, we want to take care of ’em. But I say that because the reason we’ve been able to grow faster than what I thought we would is because we have the staff and the people in place to accommodate that demand. And so still though, as far as prayers go, that wisdom to know what’s next and where we’re being led, those are the prayers that I would really covet. Yeah.

Marlin Miller:

Anything for your family? Any thoughts?

Griffin Long:

I think in general, this is kind of a wild time when it comes to raising children and schooling, and there’s so many options out there and a lot of them are good. And I think, I don’t remember my parents ever are talking, and they probably did, but I don’t remember this. Where should we send our kids or how should we be parents here? How do we parent them? And I don’t remember them reading books about how to be a parent. They did it and they did a pretty good job of it, I think. But our world has changed so much. And so I think we’ve been blessed to have lots of good opportunities for the kids, but as we support them and each of our kids is unique, and so finding the setting where they can best thrive and grow into who God is making them to be, I guess my prayers are centered around for our family.

Marlin Miller:

Do you think families that have kids with special needs, you are talking, you living with these families every single day trying to serve them however you can. What do you think are the biggest needs or from a 50,000 foot view or what do you think that families that have kids with special needs are sincerely struggling with the most?

Griffin Long:

Boy, I think every situation would be unique, and so it’s hard to say a blanket answer for that, but I think it’s a 24 7 job for so many families. And so having a chance to get a breather, that’s one of the needs we want to respond to more is respite. But then I think too, we primarily serve adults. And so a lot of the newer participants that we serve might be coming out of school. And I think typically a lot of adults coming out of the school system will lose a lot of what they are graduating with, whether it’s reading, writing, some of those life skills.

And so we also want to reinforce that, and we’re not certified teachers or anything, but we are trying to engage the people we serve in a holistic way where we’re trying to support them in those areas, but also in creating relationships and learning job skills. And so we want to provide this experience, but I think the families are seeing growth in different ways. And I mean, when I hear a parent say, Griffin, you’ll never believe it. My daughter who’s nonverbal, who has never really made requests, she tapped my shoulder and told me that pulled me towards the restroom. She told me she needed to go to the restroom. That’s never happened before. Well, I hear stories about that. I think mom was attributing that to the work that we’re doing at Sacred Ground, and we don’t have some secret sauce curriculum that’s going to create those results for every person, but something about the relationships we’re building, the connections we’re making and the consistency every day of doing these things together is almost like unlocking some of these different areas of growth for people. And so

Marlin Miller:

What have you seen as far as the kids interacting with each other?

Griffin Long:

That is, again, another one of my favorite things to observe is those relationships being built. I think initially oftentimes the participants will connect with staff, but over time too, these bonds with one another are forming. And yeah, there’s a lot of reciprocal support even amongst the participants

Marlin Miller:

And they get to learn next to and with each other,

Griffin Long:

And

Marlin Miller:

It’s only going to make it stronger and better. Do you think a lot of these kids that you guys are serving, I mean obviously a lot of them have family, they have siblings, but do you think they have a lot of friends?

Griffin Long:

I think they do now.

Marlin Miller:

That’s kind

Griffin Long:

Of where I was going. We just sacred ground the last few years. We have put together a team to play against the Holmes County Bucks. And so it’s become an annual thing really. Initially our team

Marlin Miller:

Was, I didn’t know that

Griffin Long:

We played some of our board members and some donors and parents would be on our team. And this last year, the bulk of our team was our participants. And so we drew a bigger crowd this year because a lot of our group members wanted to come watch their friends play basketball. No

Marlin Miller:

Kidding.

Griffin Long:

I mean, yeah, seeing those relationships develop, that’s what it’s all about.

Marlin Miller:

And that goes directly back to what you said when you pull them in from the margins, everybody gets to win, everybody gets, and I don’t mean that in the sense of everybody gets a trophy,

Griffin Long:

That’s

Marlin Miller:

Not what I’m referring to at all. But the families,

Griffin Long:

The kids, a community. Can I share another example of how I’ve seen this happen? One of our participants expressed a desire to learn how to become a barista. And so we decided we would help her reach those goals. And turns out many of the other participants had interest in that too. So we started a mobile coffee shop, and this is like don’t get your expectations too high. It’s two Keurigs that we take. We set up a table and one of ’em has a froth or we make lattes, we make hot chocolate and coffee. Well, if we go set up in the bank lobby, it changes the entire dynamic of people coming in to do banking. And our participants are having just as much fun there as they would be having at the church in the program. But the community is the one who’s benefiting. They’re coming in, they’re getting to experience some of the joy that our group has to share. They’re smiling, they’re talking and engaging in public how they wouldn’t have ever done if our group wasn’t serving coffee in that lobby. And so we get to see that we visit all sorts of different places and get to brighten people’s day. Yeah.

Marlin Miller:

Wow. Yeah, I’ve got so many. I’ve got, I almost think we just need to end on something like that right there and we can have this whole thing just coming down. Let me say this, do you have a good story that we could end on? Is there something that you’d want to share to the churches or to the local folks that are considering starting something like

Griffin Long:

This, starting participating in what we’re doing or starting something completely new or either one, which the

Marlin Miller:

One is much easier than the other. I realize

Griffin Long:

That. Yeah, so this probably isn’t what we would want to end on, but just one of the hardest questions for me to answer is what advice would you have for someone else who’s wanting to start something like this? Because I feel a lot, I identify a lot with the story of Moses, and God called him in a very clear and powerful way, and Moses is like, who am I to do this? I can’t do that. And God’s like, no, you’ll do it and I’ll equip you and give you the people around you to help make this happen, but you’re the guy, you’re going to do this.

And so I come into this from a place of I feel like I’m supposed to do this, but I don’t know what the heck I’m doing and God has provided the right people at the right time and somehow protected this to make it flourish despite my inadequacy. I’m not trying to be humble, honestly. I never thought I’d be starting a new business. And so I don’t know what to tell people who want to start something like this other than pray, be open, try to get a sense for how God has gifted you and made you, and then look for be open to opportunities to express those gifts within yourself. And doors will open, I guess if you are faithful in that. But it’s not going to look like sacred ground mean, and ours isn’t modeled or looking like anyone else’s. God’s got something new. He wants to do new things.

Marlin Miller:

Now we’re going to put all the standard stuff in the show notes underneath there, but where can folks go to learn more about everything

Griffin Long:

That you’ve been talking

Marlin Miller:

About?

Griffin Long:

So we have website, the sacred ground.org. We have Facebook page, and of course I’d love to have phone calls, meet for coffee if people want to learn more, call me. I’d love to talk to, we just hired a director of development who’s going to help with our public relations and just getting the word out. Her job is to share our story essentially in the community and invite people to come alongside in whatever way they choose. And so I say that because we’re going to be beefing up our website and our social media and some of those things to make it easier for people to access our story. And yeah, I think that’s awesome. I lost my train of thought. That’s

Marlin Miller:

Totally good. I do it all the time. Boy, thank you. Thanks for being here. Thanks for taking the time and just sitting with us a bit. Absolutely.

Griffin Long:

Yeah.

Marlin Miller:

Wow. Usually I end with how can we pray for you? And we’ve already done that, so I think we’re good. Anything else to add?

Griffin Long:

Maybe can I just end with one story?

Marlin Miller:

Yeah.

Griffin Long:

Story of Eddie. So Eddie started attending our Holmes County program in let’s say February. And I think Eddie’s story is one that we see time and time again for people. So Eddie has been home and has more complex needs, I guess physical needs. And so finding the right place for Eddie throughout the day is maybe a little more challenging than what would be usual. But he started coming a few days a week and found all of these things that we all look for, social relationships, someone to interact and connect with. And maybe two months after he started, I get a call from Dad that we are just so amazed at the work you’re doing and Eddie’s smiling more, we’re seeing more engagement outside of the program when he’s home, when he is with friends. We’re just seeing this side of him that we knew was there, but it’s kind of been kind of dormant for a little while.

He’s coming to life again and now Eddie’s added more days. And just I say that because sometimes it’s a huge step for families, and I get it too. To trust someone else with your most precious relationships and people that you care most about who are unique have their own set of needs to trust someone else to care for that is a huge, huge step. And praise God that the family was able to take that step and see now like, wow, there’s so much there. So not only does the family get a break, but Eddie is coming to life too and it’s changing how they engage him at home. And those stories, we get to hear those stories month and month and month and month. And I think if there’s one thing that maybe lacks and the typical average person’s life is all these stories of hope. And so to see what God is doing. And so just know that in our community, God is bringing people through his redemption story and God is turning things around and there’s so much movement just right here in our community and we can all be a part of that if we just open our eyes and look and listen. Wow,

Marlin Miller:

Isn’t it just like him to use who we think would in a way be the last and he turns them into the first and he makes him an integral part of a transformation of a

Griffin Long:

Family. And the reason incredible, this story was top of mind. He just had a birthday and our group loves to celebrate people, so we celebrated Eddie this week and I’m so glad he was born and I’m so glad that we get to know him and that he gets to have an impact all those people. There was 25 other people that day getting to celebrate Eddie and who were all benefiting from him getting to be a part in the community.

Marlin Miller:

Griffin, I love it. I love everything you guys are doing. I think we’ve talked about this and I think you know how much Lisa and I care about your work and about you guys, and we are so glad just to be able to call ourselves your friends. So keep up the killer work. It is so good, man. Thank you. Thank you. This is great. It’s been fun. This episode is brought to you by Homestead Living Magazine. Homestead Living is a monthly print magazine that interviews all the big names in the homesteading world and they focus and educate in a wonderful way. You can learn more and su*******@*************ng.com.

In his book, Rembrandt Is In the Wind, Russ Ramsey says that the Bible is the story of the God of the universe telling his people to care for the sojourner, the poor, the orphan, and the widow, and it’s the story of his people struggling to find the humility to carry out that holy calling guys. That is what plain values is all about. If you got anything out of this podcast, you will probably love plain values in print. You can go to plain values.com to learn more and check it out. Please like, subscribe and leave us a review. Guys, love you all. Thanks so much.