This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Is it different? Shh. You won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs.
Is your child having conversations you never imagined? Are they learning without realizing it? It's not a tablet. It's not a toy. It's Miko Mini Plus, the AI-powered companion that turns curiosity into endless learning.
Hear the future of playtime. Meet the extraordinary Miko Mini Plus. Only at Costco. A couch potato warning is in effect as DirecTV transforms Thanksgiving into Streamsgiving. DirecTV has got free TV nationwide.
With a heavy front of 60-plus live channels and a steady stream of streaming apps, conditions are perfect for non-stop entertainment.
So hunker down on the couch and sign up for your free trial of My Entertainment from DirecTV. I'm going to watch some free TV. Start streaming My Entertainment from DirecTV now at streamsgiving.com. My free is free. Paid services.
Five-day free trial, then auto renews monthly. Cancel any time. Temporary credit hold may apply. Restrictions apply. See streamsgiving.com for details.
AI produced. With Venmo stash, a taco in one hand, and ordering a ride in the other means you're stacking cash back. Nice. Get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash on your favorite brands when you pay with your Venmo debit card. From takeout to ride shares, entertainment, and more.
Pick a bundle with your go-to's and start earning cash back at those brands. Earn more cash when you do more with Stash. Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply. Max $100 cash back per month. See terms at venmo.me slash stash terms.
Hey, Ryan Reynolds here. Wishing you a very happy half-off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service. And Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price.
So? That means a f Half day. Give it a try at midmobile.com/slash switch. Up from payment of $45 for free month, plan equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offers for first three months only.
Speeds low after 35 gigabytes of networks busy. Taxes and fees extra. See Mintmobile.com. Hear that? That's what it sounds like when you plant more trees than you harvest.
Work done by thousands of working forest professionals like Adam, a district forest manager who works to protect our forests from fires. Keeping a forest fire-resistant synonymous with keeping a forest healthy. And we do that through planting more than we harvest and mitigate those risks through active management. It's a long-term commitment. Visit WorkingForestsInitiative.com to learn more.
This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. This next story is is about a friend of mine. were close in age, but have little else in common. Mitchell Rutledge, aka Big Mitch, was born black and poor in Georgia. I was born kind of brown and middle class in New Jersey.
He never met his father, I still talk to my 94-year-old father every week. He dropped out of high school in his early teens and was illiterate into his early 20s. I was surrounded by books growing up and finished graduate school in my early 30s. Big Mitch spent the last 44 years of his life in Alabama prisons for killing a man. But this is not a story about an innocent man sentenced to prison for a crime he didn't commit.
Big Mitch never denied the crime or made excuses for it. This is the story of my friend's spiritual transformation while serving his life sentence. It's also about a friendship. Only God could have engineered. A friendship that began with a single Sunday morning call.
Through these weekly conversations, I hope you come to know and love him as much as I do. Here's episode 6, my conversation on February 18th. 2024, where Mitch kicked things off reading one of his original poems. Invitation to Love This is a free call from Mitchell Rutledge. An incarcerated individual at Alabama Department of Corrections to accept this free call press one to refuse this free call press two thank you for using Securus you may start the conversation now Hi, um coming up as a youth.
I never really understood love. Because uh When I was coming up, I don't think I was told I would love her at one time, but I knew my mother loved me, even though she never said it. But it was just something there that the way the thing she did And what she did is show what she loved. And we had time for low right there. What just never just really understood love.
So traveling to life. I always thought when people said that they love you, that it was a joke, because I never really heard it. I think I heard it one time from my great-great-aunt. And She would always say, Well, I love you little rut 'cause she said I look like my grandfather. But I never saw it when I was out there in society, never saw it in the streets and And it it just was a word that I just didn't believe it.
I I thought I thought it was a joke.
So when I Met Saucerulean. And She told me that. She loves me.
Well I I didn't I didn't understand it for real.
Well, she may because I heard her so many times, so I really didn't believe it. But as time went on, I realized that she really did love me. And so what I did uh as time went on I've written a poem titled Invitation to Love, and I written it because of her and the love that she introduce me to and let me know that it was real. You know, and eventually I had other individuals as well. Here you go.
Imitation to love. Like so many people's in life. I have heard of love, however, she has never. invited me into her presence. I was heartbroken.
Because from what I have always heard, Blood was free and mine could not buy her.
So I got down on my knees. and in a sincere cry. called out to love. demanding an answer of her absence in my life. Within moments It feeling so wonderful came upon me.
A presence so bright appeared. A sweet voice said, I am the foundation upon which the Creator stands. It replied, How can I serve you? I said save me. I am loath.
in this cruel world. Peace enter my life. With you. In my life. I can conquer my fears.
and overcome all my adversities. With you in my life, I can be healed of all the pain and suffering I have faced in. With you, I can become positive and productive. I can grow and become the person God intended me to become. They'll respond your request.
has been granted. As time passed. I lived it. I forgot my request. Within a moment, notice you appear.
Love appeared through you. That's uh Invitation to Lola right there. As Mitch reflected on his own life, he discovered many instances where God had tried to reach out to him. But he just wasn't ready. As I look back over my life.
She's a meet guard. I can go back further. Before I was arrested I was uh coming from a grandmother's house. And uh some old ladies on the opposite side of the street that knew me and uh And they had responded basically. Boy, are you gonna stay out of prison this time?
You know, I just said yes, ma'am. And so their house was about On the same side of the street that they lived on, right across the street from the abandoned church. And as I'm walking, And I heard something say, uh Step inside.
So I mean so anyway I step inside this advantage church and when I step it's handled like at the bottom it still had a little rail where, you know, I guess the door was where you had to step over that. and I stepped over that and it stepped inside. And as soon as I stepped inside the door, All the way in the back of the church to my left, it was in D. Summer. and the sun was coming directly down through that window.
Shining straight down to that door. And uh as soon as I stepped inside the door, Something came all over me. I had no idea what it was.
So I said, demons. That's the only thing I knew.
So I stepped, walked back out to church, went into project, and forgot about it. And you've been listening to one heck of his story, you've been listening to the poetry of this man and the theology, and so much more. When we come back. More of episode six of Sunday Mornings with Big Mitch. here on Our American Stories.
Lee Habib here and I'm inviting you to help Our American Stories celebrate this country's 250th birthday coming soon. If you want to help inspire countless others to love America like we do and want to help us bring the inspiring and important stories told here about a good and beautiful country, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Our American Stories. Go to ouramericanstories.com and click the donate button. Any amount helps. Go to ouramericanstories.com and give.
Ha ha ha ha. Shh. You won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs. Is your child having conversations you never imagined? Are they learning without realizing it?
It's not a tablet. It's not a toy. It's Miko Mini Plus, the AI-powered companion that turns curiosity into endless learning. Hear the future of playtime. Meet the extraordinary Miko Mini Plus.
Only at Costco. A couch potato warning is in effect as DirecTV transforms Thanksgiving into StreamsGiving. Direct TV's got free TV nationwide. With a heavy front of 60-plus live channels and a steady stream of streaming apps, conditions are perfect for non-stop entertainment.
So hunker down on the couch and sign up for your free trial of My Entertainment from DirecTV. I'm going to watch some free TV. Start streaming My Entertainment from Direct TV now at streamsgiving.com. My free is free. Paid services.
Five-day free trial, then auto renews monthly. Cancel anytime. Temporary credit hold may apply. Restrictions apply. See StreamsGiving.com for details.
AI produced. Tired of spills and stains on your sofa? Wash away your worries with Anibay. Anibay is the only machine-washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget-friendly prices. That's right, sofas start at just $699.
Enjoy a no-risk experience with pet-friendly, stain-resistant, and changeable slip covers made with performance fabric. Experience cloud-like comfort with high-resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing. Sturdy steel frame ensures longevity, and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime. Shop washablefas.com for early Black Friday savings, up to 60% off site-wide, backed by a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund.
No return shipping or restocking fees, every penny back. Upgrade now at washablefas.com. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. The only thing between you and your best self is a start button. This Black Friday, explore the world with Nordic Trek.
From the peaks of Peru to the streets of Paris, every workout moves you somewhere new with iFit trainers leading the way. The equipment's amazing, smooth, quiet, and those screens make it all feel real. Ready to start your next workout adventure with the number one treadmill brand in the U.S.? Shop NordicTrack.com for Black Friday Savings. Nordic Track.
Train anywhere, explore everywhere. Bring incredible sound into every corner of your home this holiday with the new Wim Sound smart speaker. Get high-resolution audio with a 1.8-inch touchscreen, smart control, and modern design in one powerful speaker for just $2.99. From quiet mornings to lively holiday gatherings, Wim Sound makes every moment sound better and feel better too. Get the gift of the season for the music enthusiast in your life or for yourself.
Wim Sound, beautifully designed, effortlessly connected. Shop now at Amazon and search Wim Sound. That's W-I-I-M-S-O-U-N-D. And we continue with Our American Stories and with Sunday Mornings with Big Mitch, Episode 6. In a new prison environment, Mitch finds a young man huddled under a table, reading what turned out to be the Bible.
a familiar force led Mitch to join him against his better judgment. Here's Big Mitch. I got up under the table. And talk to them. Bands.
And you text me and asked him how did he know God was real? And he told him he said, His mama said, If you want to know God is real, ask God to touch you.
So I got down on my knees. You don't want nobody to see me and pray. 'Cause that was a sign of weakness at that time. And that that's that's the way I feel.
So I waited but I went to sleep. And I pray. and asked God to touch me where spirit came over me.
So I went on to death row. and to your friend. And that's when I realized That same spirit that I felt when I went in that church. a strange spirit that came over me. That time when I prayed in the county jail and this time after that.
So God had reached out to me Way before that, but I didn't know. And then a a a as I continued to pray and get to know God, then, you know. being out on the stood there, well God got for you, you can't miss. And God just continued to enter and to save Mitch's life. in more ways than one leaving him to wonder Why me, Lord?
Why me? See, I I done been on the delta bit and more than one time, more than two times. uh ahead or often be paralyzed. from neck down. But C two, C three, C four, C five and C six My server vertebrae was on the verge of crashing.
I didn't even know it. He saved me from there. And I was bad and loose. We know Protomo. And my digestive tract.
Here they told me it was counsel and in society when I went out there, they told me it was free counsel.
So they told me, he said, don't worry about it, is it hadn't spread.
So it didn't spread.
So thank God for that. But I I I'd have been through a lot of stuff. just almost died last year. Mahal operating at below twenty-one percent. Yeah.
and they I laid in here for four or five months like that. And they they said that they didn't know h why I didn't have a heart attack or a stroke. My heart used to knock me out at night. Just deep soul fit is just knocking it up. But the power of God.
Continue to rescue me, continue to save me. God just. gave me favor and I'm I'm I'm a good person, uh, I got a good spirit about me, uh Got a good personality. I'm just a likable guy. Like I said, it stopped a lot of foolishness from happening.
One time or Good job. Freedom stamp got up. But He wouldn't do it because I'm standing there. He didn't want to. He told me later on, he said, Well, Mitch, I didn't want to make no mistake and hit you.
God killed me there. you know. Because if I would have moved Boo Boo Boo Boo would've stamped him up, 'cause that's what he did. That's that's the type of stuff he did. He he he he did stuff like that.
He he would stamp you up for things that me and you consider to be foolish, but he'll do it. But anyway, it's just other little things that God used me. There's so many different ways and I thank God for that. I took a light. But God didn't allow me to save so many other lives.
with his newfound purpose in life revealed to him by God. Mitt shares another poem he wrote. Arold Palm. called Book of Life. And one of the reasons that I wrote it is because of the way I had lived my life, the way I had walked through the early part of my life.
Blind, confused. lost. I I I was ignorant and I was foolish. And so I said, Well, man, I I I need to write something. that I can give away to somebody and and they can read and maybe We're gonna help them.
Jad. make the same mistakes that I made or And I called it the book of life, but I knew it couldn't be no whole book, so I had to. really, really write it in a manner where It can be so. but it can be powerful, but it can also be like The book of life, you know, and so that's why I wrote it. And here you go.
The book of life. Come and fault. From the shadow of nothingness, seeking my purpose for my existence. Wow, no, my quiz. I found myself on a pad.
without meaning and direction, without knowledge of the present fear of hopelessness.
However, life placed in me here. while growing in darkness, eating from the fruits of the trees in the midst of my garden. God truly understanding which trees to eat from. In my growth and development, I became parson. from the fruits I ate.
Deep film. also paused in everything I touched. It paused and consumed in my life and every life in my midst. I became nomadic. Lost and confused.
as I've traveled. and the will in the state of my parts in this state. without understanding. and knowledge of who I am and my purpose for existing. At that point of self-destruction, I heard a peaceful, loving voice speaking to me.
in the nothingness of my existence, saying, Eat from the fruits from the trees in the midst of my garden. You will be healed and saved. Are extant. What and who are you? Before I said, I am the spirit of everlasting.
I am love, peace, hope, joy, mercy, understanding, knowledge, reason. I am the voice of timeless meanings and wonders. As I ate of these fruits of these trees, a dull veil fell from my eyes. I saw for the first time I began to understand myself. I began to grow in knowledge of life.
and the meaning of it. I knew my purpose, my reason for existing. I am a messenger of the everlasting spirit, the voice of timeless. meanings and wonders. All the ill of life cannot defeat you.
Not hopelessness, nor despair. Only you can defeat you. Eat from the fruits of these trees and experience a relationship. with the force of families, Millions and wonders and see for the first time a messenger So yes, that's uh Book of Life. As a disciple of God, Mitch knows all too well how to guide his fellow inmates back to the right path through knowledge, through experience, and when it comes to motivating troubled youth, He does things his own way.
I used to speak to you. Sure. You sprinkle. coming through home and Ooh, probably about seven or eight years. And I told the warden at that time, and I told all of them, I said, I'm not going to get into this fear factor thing.
because uh uh uh scared straight thing but with this fear because that that's that's only momentarily, you know, fear only lasts as long as you need it. You see what I'm saying? But I said, I want to give him some That'll be with them when they're out there involved in things and they can recall the knowledge. and the information that they didn't receive.
So yeah, every time I talked to them, I wasn't trying to scare them for real. I'm trying to give them some information. I told them, I'm trying to wake you up. I'm trying to let you be able to see. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler.
and Reagan Habib. And you've been listening to episode six. of Sunday mornings with Big Mitch. And now I think you're coming to understand why this was such an important friendship I had to bring to bear. to get you to know.
The man I'd come to know and love. By this point in time, in our conversations, I had considered Mitch one of my best friends. Sunday Mornings with Big Mitch, Episode 6, here on Our American Stories. We use sunscreen paperje la piel, verdad.
So, why not be proactive protegiendo tu salud bucal también? Hola migente sea, mara la negra y con el systema de prevention activa corgate total, tu puedes ayyudara preventir problemas bucales, como las carries yingivitis antes de qué piécen, the reformulated toothpaste. Innovative toothbrush, and refreshing antibacterial mouthwash were designed to work together to be Quince Más Effectivos de Luciendo Bacterial Buildup, like Elsa Principal de los problemas orales en solos seisemanas, starting in week one. Compared to a non-antibacterial fluoric toothpaste and a flaxum toothbrush, ESO is prevention power, baby. Compre systema de prevention activa colgate total.
Visitando shop punto, colgate punto, con diagonal total. Protect your oral health and be dentist ready. Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Where did that story come from? Book?
Dream? Nope. It came from a conversation. Meet Miko Mini Plus, the AI companion that co-creates personalized story adventures with your child in real time. What color was the hamster's cape?
And what did he pack for lunch? Unlock your child's imagination. Discover Miko Mini Plus and the magic of AI exclusively at Costco. With Venmo Stash, a taco in one hand, and ordering a ride in the other. Means you're stacking cash back.
Nice. Get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash on your favorite brands when you pay with your Venmo debit card. From takeout to Rod Shares, entertainment and more, pick a bundle with your go-tos and start earning cash back at those brands. Earn more cash when you do more with Stash. Venmo Stash Terms and Exclusions apply.
Max $100 cash back per month. See terms at venmo.me slash stash terms. The only thing between you and your best self is a start button. This Black Friday, explore the world with Nordic Track. From the peaks of Peru to the streets of Paris, every workout moves you somewhere new with iFit trainers leading the way.
The equipment's amazing, smooth, quiet, and those screens make it all feel real. Ready to start your next workout adventure with the number one treadmill brand in the U.S.? Shop NordicTrack.com for Black Friday Savings. Nordic Track. Train anywhere, explore everywhere.
Bring incredible sound into every corner of your home this holiday with the new WimSound smart speaker. Get high-resolution audio with a 1.8-inch touchscreen, smart control, and modern design in one powerful speaker for just $2.99. From quiet mornings to lively holiday gatherings, WimSound makes every moment sound better and feel better too. Get the gift of the season for the music enthusiast in your life or for yourself: WimSound, beautifully designed, effortlessly connected. Shop now at Amazon and search WimSound.
That's W-I-I-M-S-O-U-N-D. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Mm-hmm.
