Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / What Secrets Do You Hold The Other Side Of Perfect From Venus Morris Griffin
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- 0:00Speaker 1: I totally get it. It's just something that we're not
- 0:02Speaker 1: used to. When we think of Netflix, we think of
- 0:04Speaker 1: movies and all these specialty shows. When you think of
- 0:07Speaker 1: Ero dot net A r roe dot net, it's kind
- 0:10Speaker 1: of like in the same thing, except the host is
- 0:13Speaker 1: the one doing all twenty one podcasts. Ooh, is that
- 0:16Speaker 1: good or is that bad? I mean, we've got street
- 0:19Speaker 1: speak with Alexa like it's live, unplugged and totally uncut
- 0:22Speaker 1: that voice, foody paradise beyond the calling, twenty one different
- 0:27Speaker 1: areas for you to explore. Aro dot net A r
- 0:31Speaker 1: r oe dot net. Hello and good morning everybody. All right,
- 0:35Speaker 1: how are you very well? How about you?
- 0:38Speaker 2: I am wonderful, I'm wonderful. Thanks for thanks for the call.
- 0:42Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely, because this is the kind of stuff that
- 0:44Speaker 1: needs to be openly talked about, and it just seems
- 0:46Speaker 1: like we keep shoving it underneath the carpet. Why is
- 0:49Speaker 1: it we do that?
- 0:53Speaker 2: Well, because it's a lot of shame that's carried Oh
- 0:57Speaker 2: with stores like this, it's it's difficult. It's very difficult.
- 1:01Speaker 1: Yeah, And I wish the people that created the storms
- 1:04Speaker 1: to the first place understood what life was going to
- 1:06Speaker 1: be like in the years, well after decades and things
- 1:08Speaker 1: like that. Because my father was he had some secrets
- 1:12Speaker 1: and those secrets are what the repercussions are today. And
- 1:16Speaker 1: all you can do is just go and I don't
- 1:17Speaker 1: want to have one of those DNA tests, you know what,
- 1:19Speaker 1: I mean to go find out the family history. You
- 1:21Speaker 1: just sit there and go, I'm going to rely on
- 1:23Speaker 1: Venus to help me through this because she obviously knows
- 1:26Speaker 1: the path.
- 1:28Speaker 2: Well.
- 1:28Speaker 3: You know, I was a stay at home mom and
- 1:30Speaker 3: I had six children ranging in ages from one to fifteen,
- 1:35Speaker 3: and my husband was sentenced to.
- 1:38Speaker 2: Forty five years in prison, and you.
- 1:41Speaker 3: Know, it's really scary. It's really scary not to know
- 1:46Speaker 3: how you're going to navigate through life as a single
- 1:51Speaker 3: mom and you've lived your life with this second person
- 1:55Speaker 3: for nearly twenty years.
- 1:56Speaker 2: And I think it starts off from a forgiveness.
- 2:01Speaker 3: Standpoint versus you know, being bitter and just kind of
- 2:07Speaker 3: the victim mentality.
- 2:08Speaker 2: But I think when you can forgive someone for what
- 2:10Speaker 2: they've done to you.
- 2:11Speaker 3: It allows to give It allows you to have the
- 2:13Speaker 3: grace to get the grit to do what you need
- 2:15Speaker 3: to do to take.
- 2:16Speaker 2: Care of business. And that's the power of my story.
- 2:19Speaker 1: I think, yeah, because isn't that one of the golden
- 2:21Speaker 1: rules forgiveness. But the problem is, though, I think people
- 2:23Speaker 1: struggle with the forgetting part of it. And it's like
- 2:26Speaker 1: my wife told me one time, she says, I'll never
- 2:28Speaker 1: forget this. I'll forgive you, but I'll never forget this,
- 2:31Speaker 1: and rooy, that's not a guilt trip.
- 2:34Speaker 2: I don't think you're supposed to forget it. And that's
- 2:37Speaker 2: not my story.
- 2:37Speaker 3: My story is not about forgetting what happened. It's actually
- 2:42Speaker 3: remembering what happened. But forgiveness is something separate. That's something
- 2:45Speaker 3: that I chose to do for my children because it
- 2:48Speaker 3: gave them the ability to forgive as well, and it's
- 2:52Speaker 3: something I chose to do for myself, less about him.
- 2:55Speaker 2: But you know I don't for me.
- 2:58Speaker 3: I can't imagine getting to where I'm at in my
- 3:01Speaker 3: life and my children being independently successful and emotionally well
- 3:07Speaker 3: had I not chosen that path.
- 3:11Speaker 1: The book we're talking about is the other side of perfect.
- 3:13Speaker 1: And one of the things this is how you affected
- 3:15Speaker 1: me as a writer, is that as I really got
- 3:17Speaker 1: into your paragraphs and got into the emotion of it all,
- 3:20Speaker 1: all of a sudden my vision was what did she
- 3:23Speaker 1: see in the mirror? Because we all have those moments
- 3:25Speaker 1: where we go to the mirror because we think the
- 3:27Speaker 1: mirror has the answer. What did you see in the mirror?
- 3:31Speaker 3: Well, I had a very tough childhood and I lived
- 3:37Speaker 3: on the verge of homelessness for many years trying to
- 3:42Speaker 3: figure out.
- 3:42Speaker 2: How to have a normal life, or what I thought
- 3:47Speaker 2: was a normal life.
- 3:48Speaker 3: And when my husband went to prison, I prior to that,
- 3:53Speaker 3: I thought that I kind of had it figured out,
- 3:55Speaker 3: that I had escaped the abuse as a child. And
- 3:59Speaker 3: when I looked in the mirror after my husband was
- 4:02Speaker 3: sentenced to prison, what I wasn't willing to do is
- 4:05Speaker 3: put that cross down for my children to pick up
- 4:07Speaker 3: and carry, because I think a lot of times it's
- 4:10Speaker 3: easy to make that choice where it's just too much bigger,
- 4:13Speaker 3: But you have to realize that when you put it down,
- 4:16Speaker 3: then somebody else has to pick it up and figure
- 4:18Speaker 3: out how to try to make somewhat normal life out
- 4:21Speaker 3: of the dysfunction and the tragedy.
- 4:23Speaker 2: So my children really saved me, honestly.
- 4:28Speaker 1: So I got to ask you, are there are there
- 4:30Speaker 1: churches going to ask you to come in and do
- 4:31Speaker 1: some conversations. The reason why I bring that up is
- 4:34Speaker 1: because I know that at Elevation Church with Pastor Stephen Ferdick,
- 4:37Speaker 1: I mean, he always talks about things like this where
- 4:39Speaker 1: it is about breaking the chain, so not picking it up.
- 4:42Speaker 1: I love the fact that you are so open and
- 4:44Speaker 1: transparent with that, because you're right, let's break that chain,
- 4:48Speaker 1: but let's don't forget right.
- 4:51Speaker 3: Well, I have spoken at churches and it's been pretty powerful,
- 4:55Speaker 3: So you know, I didn't realize how powerful my story
- 4:58Speaker 3: was until Humans of New York featured me and it
- 5:01Speaker 3: went viral, and you know, millions of people across the
- 5:04Speaker 3: world were touched, and many wrote to me saying they
- 5:08Speaker 3: were on the verge of suicide and they heard my
- 5:11Speaker 3: story and it gave them the power to realize that,
- 5:14Speaker 3: you know, seeing my walk, if I could get through it,
- 5:17Speaker 3: they could also. And I think that's the beauty in
- 5:20Speaker 3: my story. It's it's not just shame anyone. And ironically
- 5:24Speaker 3: the book is told respectfully when I talk of my
- 5:28Speaker 3: mother and my ex husband, but it's to get people
- 5:31Speaker 3: power to get out of those situations. And I think
- 5:33Speaker 3: that's that's the most important part.
- 5:36Speaker 1: I think one of the things that I mean, there's
- 5:38Speaker 1: so many things inside this book that are going to
- 5:40Speaker 1: draw people to it. They're going to walk into a
- 5:41Speaker 1: Barnes and Noble or they're going to be on Amazon
- 5:43Speaker 1: and they're just going to read through the actual reaction
- 5:46Speaker 1: to it. And what's so funny is that you you
- 5:49Speaker 1: really dig into the multiple layers of relationship and the
- 5:53Speaker 1: power of that forgiveness, but at the same time you
- 5:56Speaker 1: also go into the violent outbursts and and and learning
- 5:59Speaker 1: how to face that because how many men or women
- 6:02Speaker 1: or even children have grown up with this. I grew
- 6:04Speaker 1: up with an angry father. I don't think I'm ever
- 6:06Speaker 1: going to get over that, but I rely on writing
- 6:09Speaker 1: like yours to help me get through those storms. I'm
- 6:12Speaker 1: not the only one out here.
- 6:15Speaker 3: Well, I'll tell you the real power in my story
- 6:19Speaker 3: is me taking personal responsibility for putting my children in
- 6:23Speaker 3: a dangerous home, because I share in that burden, because
- 6:28Speaker 3: you know, I was afraid to leave for a lot
- 6:31Speaker 3: of reasons. But by staying, you know, I thought I
- 6:34Speaker 3: was protecting them, but I harmed them.
- 6:36Speaker 2: And of course that was never my tent.
- 6:39Speaker 3: But you know, I've got to take responsibility where I
- 6:43Speaker 3: failed as well.
- 6:44Speaker 2: It's not just about who failed me.
- 6:46Speaker 3: And when you look at what actions you can do
- 6:49Speaker 3: differently and better to be better, then that's where the
- 6:52Speaker 3: real power is.
- 6:52Speaker 2: Because it really doesn't matter what these other people do
- 6:54Speaker 2: to you.
- 6:55Speaker 3: But you've got to have the strength inside of you
- 6:58Speaker 3: to know that you're going to be okay and that
- 7:00Speaker 3: you can get out of it.
- 7:01Speaker 2: And that's what this story.
- 7:03Speaker 3: I hope people will see themselves through me and in
- 7:06Speaker 3: me and be able to get out of these really
- 7:10Speaker 3: terrible situations.
- 7:11Speaker 1: Is this a generational thing? Only because I know how
- 7:14Speaker 1: old how old I am? I don't. I don't know
- 7:16Speaker 1: where you are on the map. But the thing about
- 7:18Speaker 1: it is it seems like that our generation is the
- 7:20Speaker 1: one that said I can, I'm going to stick to it.
- 7:22Speaker 1: I'm going to beat you know, like Tammy why not
- 7:24Speaker 1: and said you know, I'm going to stand by my
- 7:26Speaker 1: man and and but then today when you look at
- 7:28Speaker 1: young couples and I've been in the wedding business for
- 7:31Speaker 1: thirty four years, it's it's one of those things where
- 7:33Speaker 1: it's like here, gone, gone, gone God, and I and
- 7:35Speaker 1: it doesn't I mean, it really does help me kind
- 7:38Speaker 1: of sit back and go, well, why did I stay
- 7:40Speaker 1: or why did my mom stay? Why did we stay?
- 7:43Speaker 1: And and and that's what That's one of the things
- 7:45Speaker 1: I find inspiring with you is you found the Word
- 7:48Speaker 1: of God. Is what you found, and that made you
- 7:51Speaker 1: strong during and after and in this present day today.
- 7:56Speaker 2: Well, God found me. I don't. I don't God. God
- 8:00Speaker 2: found me, and he met me in the He met
- 8:05Speaker 2: me in the middle of my mess. And that's where
- 8:06Speaker 2: people go wrong.
- 8:07Speaker 3: Because they think that, you know, God's supposed to help
- 8:11Speaker 3: them when they're through the mess, or he'll help you
- 8:13Speaker 3: get clarity.
- 8:14Speaker 2: But God meets you in the middle of your mess.
- 8:16Speaker 3: And and you know, I tell people the first year
- 8:20Speaker 3: my husband was in prison, we went to Mass every
- 8:23Speaker 3: morning at seven am, the children, all six children, and
- 8:25Speaker 3: I not because I was like this great person, but
- 8:28Speaker 3: because I didn't know what to do, and that's the
- 8:30Speaker 3: only thing I could do. And so I took that
- 8:33Speaker 3: small step, which gave me strengths to take another step.
- 8:36Speaker 3: So I think, you just take the small step and
- 8:39Speaker 3: then you'll get the strength you need to take the
- 8:40Speaker 3: next step.
- 8:41Speaker 2: But you got to take the first one.
- 8:43Speaker 3: And you don't need to wait until your husband is
- 8:45Speaker 3: sentenced to forty five years in prison. You know my again,
- 8:49Speaker 3: my deepest regret that I will carry to the ends
- 8:52Speaker 3: of my days is not leaving when the abuse started
- 8:55Speaker 3: early in the marriage versus you know, waiting twenty years
- 8:58Speaker 3: into it.
- 8:59Speaker 2: But generation trauma is real.
- 9:01Speaker 3: I you know, my brother was in maximum security prison,
- 9:04Speaker 3: and my sister, you know, no one's heard from her
- 9:08Speaker 3: in nearly thirty years. And my mother is struggling as
- 9:11Speaker 3: we speak at the hospital, you know, detox scene off
- 9:15Speaker 3: of description medications, and some people just think there's no
- 9:21Speaker 3: other choice, and and you know, it's just a tragedy.
- 9:24Speaker 2: But I'm hoping this book.
- 9:26Speaker 3: I know this book is going to change that for
- 9:28Speaker 3: many people to see that it doesn't matter if you're
- 9:31Speaker 3: their abuser or the one being abused.
- 9:33Speaker 2: You can you can change it. You can change it.
- 9:35Speaker 3: Well.
- 9:35Speaker 1: The fact that you put pen to paper to write
- 9:36Speaker 1: a book that has always been my box that I
- 9:40Speaker 1: stand on, and I believe that I've been called to
- 9:42Speaker 1: do that, and I have to sit out here and
- 9:44Speaker 1: make sure that you know, put the pin to paper,
- 9:46Speaker 1: put the pin paper. So I'm blessed to even have
- 9:48Speaker 1: a conversation with someone like you, Venus, because you did it,
- 9:51Speaker 1: you're living it, and you're out here to help change
- 9:53Speaker 1: people's lives. I just wish more people could do that,
- 9:56Speaker 1: But I don't know how to do it unless it's
- 9:58Speaker 1: words like yours is say here it is people the reality.
- 10:02Speaker 1: What are we going to do about it? What is
- 10:03Speaker 1: the solution?
- 10:05Speaker 3: Well, I've been working on this book for seven years,
- 10:07Speaker 3: so this isn't something that you know was easy.
- 10:11Speaker 2: And I'll tell you the harder part is.
- 10:13Speaker 3: You know, I grew up people telling me don't put
- 10:15Speaker 3: your stuff out on the streets, and I think and
- 10:19Speaker 3: so by by holding it all in and pretending we're perfect,
- 10:22Speaker 3: which is why my book is the other side of perfect.
- 10:25Speaker 3: You think that you're the only one living in this
- 10:27Speaker 3: abusive situation, so you carry this guilt and shame and
- 10:30Speaker 3: so you never tell anyone. And the reality is we
- 10:33Speaker 3: all struggle with something. There's no perfect anything. And if
- 10:37Speaker 3: we can respectfully and openly talk about these things, I
- 10:41Speaker 3: think we can in tremendous.
- 10:45Speaker 2: You know, generational trauma and abuse.
- 10:48Speaker 1: So now, do you ever look at yourself as being
- 10:50Speaker 1: the greatest actor you've ever met? And I'll set that
- 10:53Speaker 1: up because people always look at me and to go,
- 10:55Speaker 1: how could you be so happy all the time? How
- 10:57Speaker 1: can you just try to And I go, it's an act.
- 11:00Speaker 1: It's an act. I've got to become that person so
- 11:02Speaker 1: I can get beyond my own my own ashes. Do
- 11:05Speaker 1: you find yourself being the greatest actor that you've ever met?
- 11:09Speaker 2: Well, I was never trying to be an actor.
- 11:12Speaker 3: I was trying to be a good mom to my kids,
- 11:15Speaker 3: and so it never it was never about me, you know,
- 11:23Speaker 3: trying to be someone I wasn't. I did, you know
- 11:25Speaker 3: as a young child, I pretended to have a different
- 11:28Speaker 3: life because I was ashamed of the way I grew up.
- 11:31Speaker 3: But again, I don't know that I would call myself
- 11:34Speaker 3: an actor. I just was trying to do the best
- 11:38Speaker 3: with what I had to be normal.
- 11:40Speaker 2: And you know, I.
- 11:44Speaker 3: Don't know the true answer to that, other than I've
- 11:46Speaker 3: tried to live an authentic life, but I've not been
- 11:49Speaker 3: very successful at it until I realized I had to
- 11:52Speaker 3: step out of the abuse and really just call a
- 11:55Speaker 3: spade a spade.
- 11:56Speaker 2: And so it's been tough. It's been tough, but it's.
- 11:59Speaker 3: It's, you know, a beautiful thing now that through the
- 12:04Speaker 3: darkest moments to get this light to other people.
- 12:07Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Venus Morris Griffin.
- 12:10Speaker 1: Coming up next the name of the book The Other
- 12:15Speaker 1: Side of Perfect. We are back with Venus Morris Griffin.
- 12:19Speaker 1: How have you been able to deal with the possibilities
- 12:22Speaker 1: of allowing addiction to become your step of peace? Because
- 12:26Speaker 1: I mean it's all around you. In fact, then you've
- 12:28Speaker 1: been buried by all of this bad news. It would
- 12:30Speaker 1: have been so simple to go into any form of addiction.
- 12:33Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, look at all the different flavors
- 12:34Speaker 1: of vodka and whiskey, and now there's THC and fused drinks.
- 12:38Speaker 1: There's every escape is right there as a temptation. What
- 12:41Speaker 1: the hell kept you away from it?
- 12:44Speaker 3: Well, you know, I tell my children all the tom
- 12:46Speaker 3: I'm an alcoholic and a drug addict waiting to happen.
- 12:49Speaker 3: But if you don't ever take the first if you
- 12:51Speaker 3: don't take the drink, if you don't take the drug,
- 12:54Speaker 3: then it's not going to happen. And so you know,
- 12:57Speaker 3: I saw my brother and sister and my family all there,
- 13:02Speaker 3: you know, suffer with tremendous addiction. And I didn't know
- 13:06Speaker 3: what a you know, a healthy life looked like. But
- 13:09Speaker 3: I knew at an early age I wasn't going to
- 13:12Speaker 3: do what they were doing, and I was, I would
- 13:14Speaker 3: you know, I might not be successful life, but I
- 13:16Speaker 3: was going to damn sure try that trying to be
- 13:19Speaker 3: And so I just refused to do those things because
- 13:23Speaker 3: there's no good in them.
- 13:24Speaker 2: And always, you know, even when I don't know the answer, you.
- 13:29Speaker 3: Know mostly what's for sure not good for you, which
- 13:32Speaker 3: are drugs and alcohol. And I just I saw how
- 13:35Speaker 3: my siblings life turned out, and I just I didn't
- 13:38Speaker 3: want to be like them.
- 13:38Speaker 2: So that's really never been an option for me.
- 13:41Speaker 3: So I don't have a great answer other than I
- 13:44Speaker 3: wanted to be the opposite of what I saw, so
- 13:46Speaker 3: that was the best way for me to do it.
- 13:48Speaker 1: And you're very genuine with that, because, I mean, this
- 13:50Speaker 1: is one thing that listeners need to understand that when
- 13:52Speaker 1: when they purchased the other side of perfect, you're actually
- 13:55Speaker 1: helping to create scholarships for children, and it's not just
- 13:59Speaker 1: normal children, or you are helping kids who've got parents
- 14:03Speaker 1: that have been in trouble.
- 14:05Speaker 3: Well, you know, this book I've spent I would say,
- 14:08Speaker 3: if I had to guess, a couple hundred thousand dollars
- 14:10Speaker 3: writing this book, because it's taking me so long. I'm
- 14:14Speaker 3: donating all of the proceeds to charity to have a.
- 14:19Speaker 2: Scholarship for kids that have a parent in prison.
- 14:21Speaker 3: And it's not academic based at all, because when kids
- 14:25Speaker 3: are going through tragedy and trauma, they don't have the
- 14:28Speaker 3: privilege that many children have to have good grades. So
- 14:32Speaker 3: they write a letter, and my children read the letters,
- 14:36Speaker 3: and you know, all they have to say is what
- 14:39Speaker 3: their parents went to prison for, how the adversity has
- 14:42Speaker 3: affected them, and how they're going to use this scholarship
- 14:45Speaker 3: to help other people see that there's a light. And
- 14:48Speaker 3: it's pretty powerful because it keeps my children and me grounded,
- 14:52Speaker 3: and you know, we're all the same, We're all the same.
- 14:56Speaker 2: All the tragedy looks different.
- 14:57Speaker 3: And it gives these kids a voice, and it makes
- 14:59Speaker 3: them feel seen, and it makes some he heard, and
- 15:04Speaker 3: it gives it gives me hope that I can somehow
- 15:10Speaker 3: make a small difference in someone out there, like my children,
- 15:15Speaker 3: who just need someone to believe in them.
- 15:17Speaker 2: So it's it's pretty powerful.
- 15:19Speaker 3: And the additional proceeds will go to other charitable organizations
- 15:23Speaker 3: or organizations that are changing people's lives. But this book
- 15:27Speaker 3: is a promise that I made to God that if
- 15:30Speaker 3: and when he got me through the tragedy. I would
- 15:32Speaker 3: use my story to lift other people up, and that's
- 15:36Speaker 3: what I plan to do.
- 15:37Speaker 1: So are you going to start marching in the way
- 15:39Speaker 1: of maybe writing some ya books or maybe even some
- 15:42Speaker 1: children's books, because I mean to see a child these
- 15:45Speaker 1: days receive a book. I love it. I just because
- 15:49Speaker 1: I'll go to different libraries and they that child, that's
- 15:52Speaker 1: my book, my book, my book, my book, my book,
- 15:54Speaker 1: and go, oh, I got to do whatever I can
- 15:55Speaker 1: so they can have that my book moment.
- 15:59Speaker 3: You know, well, I have no plans on writing additional books.
- 16:03Speaker 2: This was very difficult. I don't know what's in story.
- 16:06Speaker 3: You know, I never say never, But as of this moment,
- 16:10Speaker 3: I'm just going to do everything I can to get
- 16:13Speaker 3: this story out there and help other people go through
- 16:16Speaker 3: that are going through despair. And then when you know
- 16:20Speaker 3: this is kind of done, then I'm going to change
- 16:23Speaker 3: gears and see what God has in store for me.
- 16:25Speaker 2: But I don't know what. I'm still taking the little
- 16:27Speaker 2: steps one after another.
- 16:28Speaker 3: So I tell people, don't look too far ahead or
- 16:30Speaker 3: you'll get overwhelmed. But do the best you can do
- 16:32Speaker 3: every day, and right now my best is trying to
- 16:36Speaker 3: get this book out there because I think it has
- 16:38Speaker 3: the ability to change people's lives.
- 16:41Speaker 1: So a lot of people aren't going to understand what
- 16:42Speaker 1: I'm going to share with you right now, but I
- 16:44Speaker 1: think in my heart, I think you're going to understand it.
- 16:46Speaker 1: Do you feel like Peter, here's a man that denied
- 16:48Speaker 1: Jesus three times it was not the perfect life, but
- 16:51Speaker 1: he goes on to start the church in number three,
- 16:54Speaker 1: he's the one that said he will turn around and
- 16:56Speaker 1: help out his fellow brother and sister. Do you feel
- 17:00Speaker 1: like Peter, like you have been called to a modern
- 17:03Speaker 1: world where it's time to turn and help up the
- 17:05Speaker 1: fellow man.
- 17:07Speaker 2: Well, I do feel like again, God has given me.
- 17:12Speaker 3: Tremendous resources, so I can use those resources to help
- 17:16Speaker 3: other people. And and I think, you know, I've shared
- 17:20Speaker 3: this book with only a handful of people.
- 17:23Speaker 2: And it's been life changing for them.
- 17:24Speaker 3: So I feel like, you know, we go through tragedy
- 17:28Speaker 3: and difficult times, and there's always good in them if
- 17:31Speaker 3: you if you look for the good, and if you
- 17:33Speaker 3: focus on the good and what can come out of it,
- 17:36Speaker 3: then it's you haven't suffered in vain. And so I
- 17:40Speaker 3: guess in that sense, yes, you know, but I mean,
- 17:45Speaker 3: I think this book has a calling far higher than
- 17:49Speaker 3: what I can predict.
- 17:50Speaker 2: I hope.
- 17:51Speaker 1: Well you inspired me to do something on iHeartRadio today,
- 17:54Speaker 1: and that I mean, that's how your book is going
- 17:55Speaker 1: to grow. You're you're going to inspire people to do things.
- 17:58Speaker 1: And and my thing was is that I was writing
- 18:00Speaker 1: about we always talk about a loving God, a loving God,
- 18:03Speaker 1: and I and I turned it around and I said,
- 18:05Speaker 1: what is this thing called loving? And and so and
- 18:08Speaker 1: so I start breaking it down, breaking it down, breaking
- 18:10Speaker 1: it down, breaking it down, and I divided it all
- 18:13Speaker 1: the way down to it is the invisible, unspoken things
- 18:16Speaker 1: that we don't want to do. That is where the
- 18:19Speaker 1: love needs to grow. And when we step in there,
- 18:22Speaker 1: now we've got loving.
- 18:24Speaker 2: Right right, Yes, I agree with that. You know, my
- 18:28Speaker 2: faith has always been very important to me.
- 18:31Speaker 3: I'm still a sinner and I'll still mess up every day.
- 18:33Speaker 3: I'm very transparent with that. But you know, my faith
- 18:38Speaker 3: also chained me because I stayed in a very abusive
- 18:41Speaker 3: marriage for nearly twenty years because I thought.
- 18:44Speaker 2: For better, for worse, for rich rapport.
- 18:45Speaker 3: Well, God doesn't call us to self abandon ourselves in
- 18:50Speaker 3: and I don't think that.
- 18:52Speaker 2: You know, I wish I had been more vocal about what.
- 18:56Speaker 3: I was going through because you know, God doesn't ever
- 18:59Speaker 3: call us to be an abusive marriages and relationships.
- 19:03Speaker 2: And so you know, while my faith saved me, it
- 19:05Speaker 2: also chained me for many years.
- 19:07Speaker 3: And I hope people can see that as well. The
- 19:09Speaker 3: God has a higher purpose. But sometimes we can be
- 19:13Speaker 3: confused if we're so devlout in our teachings that we
- 19:17Speaker 3: don't use our own mind to see what's healthy and
- 19:21Speaker 3: what's not healthy. So faith this is a big part
- 19:24Speaker 3: in the book. But also you know, our exercise in
- 19:28Speaker 3: our free agency to do God's will, and it's not
- 19:31Speaker 3: to stay in abusive marriages for our children are harmed.
- 19:34Speaker 1: Man, you got to come back to this show anytime
- 19:36Speaker 1: in the future. The door is always going to be
- 19:38Speaker 1: open for you.
- 19:39Speaker 2: Miss Venus, Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me.
- 19:42Speaker 1: Where can people go to find out more about what
- 19:45Speaker 1: you're doing the scholarships and how you're going to grow
- 19:48Speaker 1: forward and where you've been with communities, because you know
- 19:50Speaker 1: how we are, we're inquisitive. This is like the National Inquirer.
- 19:54Speaker 1: We've got to know.
- 19:55Speaker 3: Sure, you can find me anywhere you can Google me,
- 19:58Speaker 3: Venus Morris Griffin book The Other Side of Perfect. You
- 20:01Speaker 3: can go to Instagram. I'm on Facebook. I've got a
- 20:04Speaker 3: web page.
- 20:05Speaker 2: But if you just.
- 20:05Speaker 3: Put money and Venus Morris Griffin online book or Amazon,
- 20:09Speaker 3: Venus Morris Griffin book, Barnes and Noble.
- 20:12Speaker 2: I'm everywhere. So if you want to find me, I'm
- 20:14Speaker 2: pretty easy to find.
- 20:15Speaker 1: You're going to send this book to Kevin Soerbel. And
- 20:17Speaker 1: the reason why is because Kevin is really into sharing true,
- 20:20Speaker 1: honest to God's stories that I mean, he's taken faith
- 20:23Speaker 1: based movies to a completely different level. And I just
- 20:26Speaker 1: and he's formed this company to do this, and it's like,
- 20:29Speaker 1: I just, I just feel in my heart that you
- 20:31Speaker 1: should reach out to Kevin Soeerbral.
- 20:33Speaker 2: Sure, I'd love that. I'd love that.
- 20:35Speaker 3: Give me, you know, give me this into you know,
- 20:37Speaker 3: when when my book went my story went viral on
- 20:40Speaker 3: Humans of New York, I had movie offers from Warner Brothers,
- 20:44Speaker 3: and I had Kate Hudson and the Fanning sisters, really
- 20:48Speaker 3: beautiful people that believed in my story. But I said
- 20:52Speaker 3: before I did that this book had to be a
- 20:54Speaker 3: come out first, and so that's the first step. And
- 20:56Speaker 3: then the second thing is my children have to be
- 20:58Speaker 3: on board with, you know, doing a movie or something
- 21:02Speaker 3: like that. But I do think it has the power
- 21:05Speaker 3: if the right person. I believe, you know, doing this
- 21:08Speaker 3: legwork now. The right person is going to see this
- 21:10Speaker 3: and it can help the multitudes, not just you know,
- 21:13Speaker 3: thousands of people.
- 21:14Speaker 2: I think it, you know, I think it can really
- 21:17Speaker 2: make a difference.
- 21:17Speaker 1: See in my heart, I know we're going to talk again,
- 21:20Speaker 1: just by hearing you. Oh my god, I know we're.
- 21:22Speaker 2: Going to talk again.
- 21:24Speaker 1: Oh my god, you gotta come back, please come back.
- 21:27Speaker 2: Oh thank you. I appreciate you.
- 21:28Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today?
- 21:30Speaker 2: Okay, all right, have a great day. Thank you.