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at washable sofas.com. Add a little. to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Good morning, welcome to Today.
From back to school to tackling your to-do list, the Today Show is your best start to the day. It's a new season, and every morning, we're here to help you take it all off. As the forecast calls for football all across the country. Blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.
We're getting back to all of it, and the best way to start is together. Watch The Today Show, weekday mornings at 7 a.m. on NBC. America is changing. And so is the world.
But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere. I'm a smah in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story. Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet.
Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts. A new NFL season means a fresh start. and fresh styles. At nflshop.com, you'll find the latest jerseys, hats, and sideline gear to rep your team all season long. from rookies making their debut legends.
NFLshop.com has it all. Score exclusive styles you won't find anywhere else. show up ready for every kickoff and big play. Fan Like a Pro and shop now at NFLShop.com. Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
The News Agents. We're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why. From me, Emily Maitlis. And me, John Sopol. With Global's award-winning podcast, the News Agents dropping daily, covering everything you need to know about politics and current affairs.
And the News Agents USA. Listening to the news agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the news agents to start listening. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people, coming to you from the city where the West begins. Fort Worth, Texas.
And we love sharing faith stories with you on this show. Send yours to ouramericanstories.com. Up next is exactly that. A FAITH STORY. Here to tell it is the author of Cliff Falls and Guidepost magazine contributor.
Cliff shape. We begin our story in Boston. Take it away, Cliff. We moved to California when I was four. We left in a nor'easter.
We were the last plane out. And My dad took me into the restroom. We had taken off all our winter coats, the scarfs, the jackets, and we put them on the hooks. And so when I washed my hands, I turned towards the hooks for my dad to take them down so we could put our winter coats on again. And I felt this hand on my shoulder.
And my dad said, We are never. Gonna need that stuff again. Yeah. We got on the plane and landed in Southern California in January, and it was 76 degrees. The Christmas decorations were still up.
And my dad had the taxi driver go down Hollywood Boulevard and Beverly Hills. And that was just. the lens of coming to California of the possibility of a new beginning.
So when I was in fifth grade, My parents did something wonderful. They told my sister and I that we could pick 10 shares of any stock. My sister Pitt McDonald's. and I picked Disney. As a result, every year I would get the annual report in the mail.
I felt like an owner, right? the little fifth grader. But I would read about coming attractions, what worked, what failed, what they were planning on doing, and then seeing the reality. I always wanted to work at Disney. That was always my goal to work on the back lot at the studio.
And there was this one temping agency, these two wonderful Jewish women. I can still remember one with a poodle smoking as she held the poodle. and they place temps only for the presidents, the chairmans, and the top producers on the back lot. And so I worked for everyone. But my first temp job.
at Disney. had the biggest impact on me. I was working at a place called Disney Character Voices, and they were responsible for The voiceovers for all the rides and the movies. And I saw a man who had been let go. Mm-hmm.
To no fault of his own, he was a little bit older, They were downsizing. It was during a recession. And this man's specialty was knowing all the different characters. All the intricacies like the difference between chip and ale. The difference between Paluto and Goofy.
And he was packing up his cube. And all these hundreds of figurines, each character, wrapping them up in tissue paper and putting them in a box. And I watched. a grown man fall apart. He didn't just lose a job.
He lost his identity. And I I knew in that moment. having idealized Disney that I wasn't going to make the same mistake. And then I started getting. A series of fevers.
Hundred and five. 106 107 Yeah. And that one I don't even remember. A friend called my mom to come to my place and I have a vague memory of her. at the bedside and I just remember waking up.
in my childhood bedroom at my parents' house. And the strange thing is I was getting these fevers. And then I'd recover and I'd be okay. And the doctors are like, oh, it'll run its course, it'll run its course.
Well, it wasn't running its course.
So I didn't know what to do. But The desert is about two hours away from where I was living. And There's an area called La Quinta and Indian Wells and there was a new resort there. I got a good rate and I'm like, I'll just go there for two nights. I'll just sleep.
I realized pretty soon that it was a mistake. The symptoms that I had at home of vertigo and the room starting to spin, feeling sick right after I ate. It felt like I was in a snow globe somebody had just picked up and was shaking. And in that moment. I made an unwise choice.
I should have gone to the hospital. Instead, at about 2 in the morning, I tried to drive home. And I got about a mile away. on a deserted street, and my body was shaking so much trembling, And in that moment, you don't have the objectivity to say, Oh, my body's shutting down, I'm going into septus. Shock.
You just know how bad you feel. But that's what was happening. And I literally stopped the car in the middle of the street, praying to God: don't let me die here. And I still can't remember when I got out, if I collapsed or I just kind of settled down in the middle of the street. And I have no memory how long I was there.
The remarkable thing is, somehow, eventually, I made it back to the hotel. And I went into the lobby and all the workers were there. vacuuming and cleaning and there was this side lobby. and there was this little trickling fountain. And I spent that night.
Listening to that fountain. Looking out those windows into the darkness. waiting for the sun to come up. And I was never. The same after that night.
I would return to my apartment. thinking it was only going to be a few months. I had packed up in salvaged boxes from a dumpster at a supermarket, some of them still smelled like produce, and everything I owned got put in these boxes and moved to my parents' house. Thinking it would only be a few months, and in truth, fifteen years went by. Even after I was healthy again.
This health crisis went on. four. almost ten years. Three bedridden. The rest starts and stops.
I saw 70 doctors the first seven years. Everything that meant life to me was taken away. And you've been listening to Cliff Scheipe. tell one heck of a personal story. Starting in the end with his move to California, He became a part of the Disney family as an intern.
And then came the sickness. And then years and years of struggle. When we come back. More of the story of Cliff Scheif. Here on Our American Stories.
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And so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere. I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, DC. I'm Tristan Redman in London, and this is the global story.
Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet. Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts. A new NFL season means a fresh start. and fresh styles. At nflshop.com, you'll find the latest jerseys, hats, and sideline gear to rep your team all season long.
From rookies making their debut to legends. NFLshop.com has it all. Score exclusive styles you won't find anywhere else, and show up ready for every kickoff and big play. Fan like a pro and shop now at NFLshop.com. Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
The News Agents. We're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why. From me, Emily Maitless. And me, John Sopol. With Global's award-winning podcast, the News Agents dropping daily, covering everything you need to know about politics and current affairs.
And the News Agents USA. Listening to the news agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the news agents to start listening. Lee Habib here, and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify. Or wherever you get our podcasts, any story you missed or want to hear again can be found there daily.
Again, Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these great American stories coming. And we return to our American stories and to Cliff Scheife's story. When we last left off, Cliff had lost everything, his apartment, his dream job on the back lot of Disney, and most important, his health. He would end up bedridden for three years and find himself in his childhood bedroom during the prime of his youth.
One of the oddest things about it all was, he and his doctors had no idea what was going on. Let's return to the story. Here again is Cliff. Everything I've learned about belief, I've learned from my mom. If you've ever been on an airplane in this terrible turbulence, And you look at the stewardess and you're like, if she's calm, we're all right.
That was my mom. Maybe three years in, I'm in bed. and I hear my mom at the end of the hallway. Cliff, are you up? She knocks on the door and opens it, and she's standing in the doorway.
with a cake that's lit with candles and streamers. I'm like, what is this? What are you doing, mom? It's not my birthday. And she goes, you don't know what today is?
I'm like, what is it, mom? She goes, Today's your pity party. We're throwing you a pity party. For the next hour or so, we're going to talk about what a raw deal this is. How you were the good kid and you're still the one who kind of got sick?
And then when we're done eating cake. I'm going to kick you in the pants, I'm going to start working the problem. We were in this together. And I will tell you that is the smartest thing she ever did because So many people won't move on. and do what they can do until someone in the land of the living acknowledges the reality of what has happened.
And she did that for me. I didn't know for years she would go to the church and pray and cry. And there was a house a block from the church on the way home. that had this beautiful garden up front. And my mom told me years later that she would stop her car and just look at that garden and wipe her tears and pull herself together so she could come home and be strong.
And one day she came home. And she couldn't wipe the tears away, and it was obvious. And she said, Cliff, I did something today that I never thought I would do. I said a prayer that, God, you know I love Cliff more than anything, but you love him more than I do. She put me on the altar.
And she said to God, if you want him back. I give them to you. If not, heal them. I can't do this anymore. I watched her surrender.
and I had said I had surrendered many times. But I had. Seven years in, I ended up at a research center. They said that whatever was going on, you now have a bacteria in your system. that's throughout your body and it can't fight it.
They tried me on multiple courses of antibiotics for months. It didn't kill it off. They even gave me pre-digested food that they give stroke victims. Because when you eat, it feeds the bacteria, so it never dies. But that didn't work.
And finally I said, Well, what will work? And this doctor, I'll never forget it. He looked at me and he goes, Maybe a fast. And I said, You mean like three days before Easter? I can do that.
And he said, no, it would have to be water only. about 10 or 11 days to completely starve it out of your system. And without skipping a beat, I said, okay. And he goes, okay? You're gonna do that?
I would have done anything.
So ten days it was, ten and a half days, nothing but water. And I will tell you, in that waiting room when they test the bacteria, you have to breathe into this bag every 15 minutes for three hours, the only magazine they had in that. Waiting room. was Bon Appetite. I was reading about food in my lowest moments.
But the amazing thing, the miraculous thing. Is after the 10, 11 days it was eradicated? I had a new measure of healing that I hadn't had in 10 years.
So I'm healthy, but I'm keeping to myself. I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks where he's on the deserted island. I cry like a baby in that thing. And it's not when he's on the island, it's when he tries to come home and he realizes that time has just moved on. And that is a little bit what happened to me.
I'd run into friends from the past. Everyone's married with kids or their first home or their second home or their new job. And I am living as if I was Riprimwinkle or something. When I was pursuing acting and Disney, even and In building my life, I was holding onto my dreams so tightly. And I kept being confronted with the reality that the dream isn't really what you expected.
So how do you surrender a dream? But not surrender the desire that inspired it. I got an invitation one Christmas. from uh one friend who had been there for me. And she said, I've moved to Pasadena Cliff, and I know you don't do these things, but please just stop by my Christmas party.
I just want to give you a holiday.
So I'm driving up El Molino looking for this place. And I see all these cars parked out front, and I quickly realize that her apartment. is Kitty Corner to my old apartment. where I used to live all those years ago. And as chance, or God, would have it, The only parking spot open was right in front of my apartment.
So I get out, and it's all decorated elaborately for Christmas. And there was this young kid in the bushes, and he covered, you know, with. strings of light and I said, you know, this is really impressive. You've done a good job. It was a little over the top.
And he goes, you know that snowman? Those were pumpkins from Halloween. I spray-painted them. And I'm like, really? Obviously, I had realized that prior to him telling me.
And I just as almost a throwaway said You know. I used to live here. 15 years ago. In that apartment, that one right up on the top floor, with the hardwood floors and fireplace. And he looked at me, he goes, That's my apartment.
And then he said something that was the most unexpected. He said, Do you want to see it? I answered yes before I could even consider the question. I walked up those steps. those carpeted steps and into that apartment hearing that same squeak of the door and over the fireplace there was this little brass emblem that my girlfriend at the time had given me and i had hammered it into place And he said, I always wonder where that came from.
None of the other places have that. And I looked around, opened the closets, just kitchen and. This was all mine at one point. And that mattered. I will say that I left that apartment knowing that I had finally come back.
It was time for a new dream. And I woke up one morning. I said, Mom, I can't spend another day in that bedroom. I can't do it. I packed up my car.
and I drove up north. And this irritability and anger, I dare say a righteous anger, came up inside of me. And I said, okay, God. You didn't promise that the friends would still be there, the job would still be there. But you know what you did promise?
Green pastures. Still water is green pastures. You've promised me peace. Where is my peace? When are you going to show up?
Now I showed up at a church I used to go to and volunteer at. Nobody knew I was coming. And I kind of signed up to work with the I did sign up to work with the high school department writing dramas. And They said, you know, there are some families who will put up the volunteers and the interns at the church until you find housing. And there's a family in the Patola Valley.
and I got the address. And so I'm driving down this valley and it is pouring rain and it's a winding road. And I'm thinking, where's my peace?
Well, I arrived at the home and the family was so nice, and they ushered me to the bedroom, and I fell asleep. and thinking, how did I end up in this spot? The next morning I felt the sun. against my face as it was coming through the many blinds. And as I pulled the cord in the blinds inched up, I realized in that moment It's the Patola Valley, but All that time I thought I was winding down into the valley.
I was actually ascending. I was high on. the hill and the mountaintop. And I didn't know it. And I looked out that window, and you know what was exactly out that window.
Green pastures. As far as I could see, rolling green, unobstructed pastures. And it was like God was saying to me, You know, for some reason, God sometimes sounds like Frank Sinatra in my head. You want a green pastures, kid? There's your green pastures.
Who's your God? Who's your God? Who do you believe? He was going to get me to where I needed to be, even if I didn't understand it. And had you told me those years ago when I packed up my stuff and moved out of my apartment, that I was going to be an author, not an actor.
And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Monty Montgomery. And a special thanks to Cliff Schife. He's the author of Cliff Falls and a contributor at Guide Post magazine. Cliff Seife's Story His faith journey here. on our American stories.
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With a modular design and changeable slip covers, you can customize your sofa to fit any space and style. Whether you need a single chair, love seat, or a luxuriously large sectional, Anibay has you covered. Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your home. Right now, you can shop up to 60% off store-wide with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Shop now at washablesofas.com.
Add a little. to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. America is changing. And so is the world.
But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere. I'm a smachhalid in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story. Every weekday will bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet.
Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts. A new NFL season means a fresh start. and fresh styles. At nflshop.com, you'll find the latest jerseys, hats, and sideline gear to rep your team all season long. From rookies making their debut, to legends.
NFLshop.com has it all. Score exclusive styles you won't find anywhere else. show up ready for every kickoff and big play. Fan Like a Pro and shop now at NFLShop.com. Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
The News Agents. We're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why. From me, Emily Maitless. And me, John Sopol. With Global's award-winning podcast, the News Agents dropping daily, covering everything you need to know about politics and current affairs.
And the News Agents USA. Listening to the news agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the news agents to start listening. Fox One is now live. It's the new way to stream all your Fox favorites all in one place.
That means NFL Sundays and college football games, breaking news with the Fox voices you trust, and your favorite shows streamed as they happen so nothing gets spoiled. With Fox One, you get it all live: edge of your seat plays, jaw-dropping moments, and that feeling like you're right there in the action. Start your seven-day trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox One for complete terms and conditions.
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