Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of faith and culture. It's The WallBuilders Show, taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. You can learn more about us at wallbuilders.com for virtually everything having to do with WallBuilders and influence the culture, faith of the Founders, America's story, all of that at wall builders.com. And then if you want to just catch up on some of the radio programs, go to wallbuilder.show. You want to do that if you missed any of the programs so far this week, because today we're going to get the conclusion of our conversation. With Zach and Bella and Hannah, three of our Patriot Institute grads. And the last three days, they've been in studio with us. And it's really good. I mean, they shared a wealth of wisdom. I'm gonna get some more from them today, but it's all there at wallbuilders.show and it's super easy for you to share the program with your friends and family. You can do the same thing in your podcast apps. So if you're listening to us on one of the many podcast apps out there, just hit that share button and let people know about the Patriot institute by letting them know about the Wall Builders radio program. All right, let's jump back in with Zach, and Hannah and Bella. I'll never forget, and I can't remember when it was, I'll ever forget what happened, but I think it was right before you came to the Institute. We were sitting on the floor in the chamber here at the campus, you came over and sat down and we were talking and you told me the story of Bailey and how that impacted you. Bailey's another one of our Institute grads and in fact, she's up at Dallas doing the Moms for America event with John Voight and having a good time with some of our other students. Tell that story because that really impacted me and it was another one of those kind of passing the torch things, but not necessarily something she said directly to you. You just saw the change in her. 

Zach [00:01:45] In 2024, during the Leadership Congress here at Nationals, Mr. Dunham, the Dean of the Institute, he was giving of his time and just coming in like a half hour early at the hotel we were staying at and was just giving his time to just answer any questions we had. And there was a small group of us who would go down there and just sit down there. I never asked any questions. I just sat there and listened to other people ask their questions, just learned that way. And one of the other people was Bailey and her siblings were there. And I don't think she ever asked me questions until like the very last day. And that was the very first year of the Institute. I contemplated going, but then other stuff came up I just chose not to. And then at the next year at the Colorado Leadership Congress. I haven't seen Bailey at all. I don't really think I remember her name at all, but then I saw her get up and she was the Governor for that Leadership Congress, gave the whole speech, everything. And I was just. I was blown away because of the difference in confidence level. I didn't really remember her that much, but I remembered how just shy, quiet she was. And then just to see her up there, completely comfortable in talking. Bold and confident. Yes, and speaking with such boldness. And when I saw it, I was like, all right. 

Rick Green [00:03:01] If she can do it. 

Zach [00:03:03] It wasn't just if she can. I was, like, I want that. I want the confidence to go up there because I know I have good things to say. I know, I know the same Lord that everyone else here knows. And I should be able to speak well for Him. And so that was the side of actor I was like, all right, if I have the chance, I'm going to do this because I want to be able speak confidently for my King. 

Rick Green [00:03:27] This is a ...This is the most rewarding thing. Of all the things I get to do, I get do a lot of cool stuff, and I mean, even from the first Patriot Academy in 2003, there was a young man so much like you, Zach, and to watch his growth, he came, I think, three years in a row, and just like with you, watch his growth and his boldness and his courage and the way he went from not being, I mean when he did first get up, it wasn't good. And to the point of being able to articulate and to be running the show, there's nothing more rewarding than that. And we get to see that in all of you. And the best part today is getting to hear you talk about how it wasn't just Krish or me or the older folks up in the front of the room, it was the fellow students that helped inspire that in you. And then now for you to get to do it with others. Oh, I get to live such an amazing life. This is so rewarding. Wow. Where do we go from there, girls? Thoughts, comments, questions, insults? If you have insults, insult Zach, not me. No, I'm kidding. 

Hannah [00:04:29] You asked what to tell someone if they're, if they are concerned about coming to leadership Congress, like they're interested in the Institute, but they don't have a time to spend eight months, but you want the change that we're talking about. 

Rick Green [00:04:43] Yeah. 

Hannah [00:04:44] You would be surprised how much God could do in three days. You would surprised how God could in three days. I mean, he raised Christ back to life, three days, surprise. 

Rick Green [00:04:54] Sunday's on the way. 

Hannah [00:04:56] Leadership Congress last year, it was not this year, but last year I was on our travel team and I got to go to a couple of the Leadership Congresses across the United States. And I got meet so many young people and it was an absolutely amazing opportunity because I was getting to see those changes. But it wasn't just, oh, I knew you last year and now this year you're a different person. It was, I met you whenever you came in here on Thursday. And now it's Saturday and our last floor session and you went from being glued to your seat to being glued the mic. 

Rick Green [00:05:27] To glue to the mic, sorry, I interrupted you. You had such a great line there, Hannah, and I ruined it. You went from what? 

Hannah [00:05:34] Glued to your seat to glued to the mic. And just the amount of confidence has even grown in three days. But it wasn't just confidence growing three days is we, this process, this event, these three-to-six-day events if you come to Nationals, have been built with the intention of being challenging to the point of failure to success. So success is built upon a thousand little failures. 

Rick Green [00:05:55] That's right. You need the failure if you want the success. 

Hannah [00:05:57] 100% I mean you even see that with like Einstein like 999 failed light bulbs 

Rick Green [00:06:02] No, that was Edison. But yes. Einstein was the same, though. Yes. 

Hannah [00:06:05] You see like a hundred so many failures before you finally get success 

Rick Green [00:06:08] Because it wasn't ten thousand failures, it was ten thousand, he said, ten thousand ways not to invent the lightbulb. But I like even saying the word failure, embrace failure so that you can get to success. 

Hannah [00:06:17] Oh yeah, failure is so necessary, and even in the three days of leadership congress, you're gonna fail, but there's also a massive opportunity for you to fail and fail and then succeed. And you get to have that success moment of, I just went up there and I didn't use any pad words. I just up there, and I went from keeping my hands right here the entire time whenever I did my first presentation, and then we did how to speak, and suddenly my hands are right here and I'm talking with my hands and I am articulating well to people who are visual. And there's all this stuff teaching you not only just how to present and how to present your bill and how to be well articulated and know these apologetics, the best part of the leadership Congress. And the reason why I came back, even though as a kid, I was not interested in politics, I was not interested in doing anything public speaking. I didn't want to be in front of a crowd. I didn't want to do anything that had anything to do with politics. I was like, sure, that's other people's thing. I just want to be a mom. I'm good. Obviously, that's changed a little bit. I still want to be a mom, but I also know that God has called me to other things as well. Was in the leadership Congress, there's all this time spent on these things, but there's also the evenings, and we specifically put together iron sharpenings. And so you're getting to sit there, and I'm 17 years old, and I am coming into this week with this certain idea of what my future should look like. And there's these six moms lined up at the front of the room, and they're doing an iron sharpening panel with us. And they said, ask us any question we want, but first we're gonna tell you our stories. And Gabby Barton, Gabby Barton started telling me her story. 

Rick Green [00:07:37] OK, wait, you got to stay through the break to find out what Gabby Barton said that changed Hannah's life. So we're going to take a quick break. I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution coach with three special guests in studio with me, Zach and Hannah and Bella, all three Patriot Institute grads. You can learn more about the Institute by going to PatriotAcademy.com/Institute. Come spend a whole year with us right here on the campus in Constitution City, Texas. We'll be right back. You're listening to The WallBuilders Show. 

Rick Green [00:09:08] I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution Coach. Thanks for staying with us. Three special guests in studio with me now. Bella and Hannah and Zach have all been through our one-year Patriot Institute at the Patriot Academy campus in Constitution City, Texas. And we have just a few days left for applicants. You can go to PatriotAcademy.com/Institute, 17 up to 25. If you're a high school senior, you're welcome to come spend your senior year with us right here on the campus. Finish out your senior year of high school and at the same time get some dual credit. So you'll be doing master's level training on apologetics, communication, constitution, life purpose, all those good things. PatriotAcademy.com/institute. Maybe you're trying to decide whether or not to go to college. Maybe you've already gone to college, got your degree and now you're wondering what's next or how do I find my purpose. This is a great place to do that. Okay, back into our conversation. Hannah, you left us on a cliffhanger. You were talking about coming to leadership Congress. Our Iron Sharpening Iron Sessions That's our evening sessions where we break out guys and girls the girls go into one, well now we do it here at the campus on a range, have a round the fire. It's really cool. But back then we were at the Capitol and so you guys went into you ladies went into one committee room and the guys we took them all to another committee room. And so you had six ladies I'm recapping your the beginning of your story.. The six ladies up front said we're gonna give you questions, but first we're going to tell you our story and you said Gabby Barton was about to give her story. 

Hannah [00:10:35] Yes, the, this story was so important to me because as I had said, I wanted to be a mom. And I had this firm idea and I kept on saying, I just wanna be a mom, I just want to be mom, I just wanted to mom. Like that's all that matters in my life. And so I'm telling my mom. 

Rick Green [00:10:46] It is the most important thing, that we're not devaluing that.  

Hannah [00:10:48] Oh, no, it was the until. And I realized, I was actually younger than 16. This wasn't, I wasn't even a student. I was going to volunteer. I, it's what made me want to come back and be a student because I wasn't going to, I was just gonna volunteer for the whole time. And it was an amazing program, but I was like, I'm not a politics person. And Gabby tells her story and she has this beautiful story of a desire that the Lord put her in a season of preparation for. And so she wanted to be a wife and she wasn't married yet. And so, she went and she read all the books on how to be wife. And then met Tim and they got married. And then she wanted to be a mother and they weren't having a child. And so she said, okay, well, what do I do? Well, I'm gonna go read every single book I can get my hands on that tell me how to be good mother. And then the Lord through a miraculous story gave them their first child. And it started with her desire to prepare. And so here I am. Very young, very convinced that since I want to be a mother and I'd wanted to be mother since I was old enough to understand what motherhood was. And I remember people would ask, what do you wanna be when you grow up? And I'd be like, I just wanna be my mom. Like I just want to do my mom when I grow up. 

Rick Green [00:11:48] Your mom is amazing. 

Hannah [00:11:49] She's so amazing, but my mom would say Hannah What are you gonna do until you're a mother? Because I mean getting married right out of high school might happen and you might have a kid right after that, but what if it doesn't? What are you going to do in the in-between? Are you just gonna waste away until you finally like get married and have kids? And I'm like well, no, I gotta do something in the between. But what do I do? And so then Gabby's up there and she's, she's a young woman and I had got to meet her just one little girl at that time I've been babysitting her the whole weekend and I saw, Oh! Okay. There's more to life than just what I plan. I have to be in this position of saying, okay, Lord, I'll prepare for what I'm planning. But Gabby wasn't just preparing for what God was planning her to do. She was reading all the books. 

Rick Green [00:12:31] Doing stuff while she's- 

Hannah [00:12:31] And she was going and she was serving. And she is going and working summer camps. And she's going and putting herself in a place to be used by the Lord as his hands and feet until she had children that were her own and that would become her main ministry. 

Rick Green [00:12:42] That's good. 

Hannah [00:12:43] And so she was in ministry and she was mothering other little kids at summer camps until the Lord gave her own kid, to mother. And so little 14-year-old Hannah said, oh, okay, so I can't just sit here and say, I know that the greatest ministry in the world is the ministry that happens in the home between a mother and a father and their children. That is the greatest ministry. Well, I'm not there yet. So what am I doing with my hands and what am doing with feet? Like where am I taking myself and what I'm going to be doing? How am I gonna be serving in the right now? 

Rick Green [00:13:10] Yeah

Hannah [00:13:10] And so completely separate from the politics. Did this make me go to Leadership Congress next year? Yes, but this was something that was outside of politics that gave me the boldness to say, okay, I'm gonna go and I'm going to pursue. I'm to pursue a life that has value. A value outside of just inherent value, but a legacy value. And I'm go do what I can in the daily mundane things to build up those around me, to use my hands while God has gifted me with two working legs. And working hands and listening ears and a mouth that can speak. And I'm not using those things to their fullest value. And I realized that listening to her story saying, I wanted to be a mother, but until I am, I will go and I will be God's hands and feet. And then when I am a mother I will a mother who is God's hands and feet. And that encouraged me to do the same thing and say, okay, well I'm gonna go and I'm just gonna do whatever the Lord places it for me and hold my life with open hands. Not empty hands, but open hands because there is much that is in my hands that I'm handing over. And that led me to somehow six years later, even though I said I will never ever go to the Patriot Academy Institute because I grew up there, I know everything about Patriot Academy, there is to know about Patriot Academy 

Rick Green [00:14:18] I didn't think there was anything left for you to learn, huh? 

Hannah [00:14:20] I did not, how are you so prideful? And then a friend called and he said, well, have you prayed about it? So, you know, I haven't done that yet. So I prayed about and I threw in the application and the next thing I knew, I was living here and it was a year of learning how to well be the hands and feet of Christ. And yes, I learned how to have the mind of Christ and yes, learn how to renew my mind, and yes, I learned to articulate well, and how to public speak, and how be confident and courageous. But more than anything, my year of the Institute taught me the most, okay, how do I serve right here in the here and now? How do I do it? Well, and how do I have joy in the fact that like this is a content season that I'm joyful in what I'm doing right now, but I'm also filled with a joyful, anticipatory joy. Like this like oh my goodness! Yes, one day I'm going to be a mother but right now I'm still joyful in what I'm doing even though it's not that. 

Rick Green [00:15:05] I get to do these other things. 

Hannah [00:15:06] I get to do these other things any joyful preparation for what? 

Rick Green [00:15:09] Instead of a have to, or almost. Yeah, y'all both used the word mundane. Last week when we did the program, you talked about whatever the mundane things are, whatever it is that day, having joy in that. Man, that's so important for your generation because sometimes you have to do, Malcolm Gladwell calls it the 10,000 hour thing. If you wanna be really good, if you wanna do the best at something, you're gonna have to put in a lot of hours to that thing and getting your generation to say, I'm gonna do the work ethic. But you've got a different way of saying it. It's not just, I'm gonna do this, like I'm going to, I'm getting through this wall because I have to get to this other thing. Y'all both say it in a way, all three of you have said it in a way where you're actually enjoying the process. You're enjoying the hard work. You're enjoying, I mean, I would have never enjoyed the word mundane. Like I don't want to do it. You guys are making it sound fun. Like you're enjoying that process. That's very, very different. I don't know if you want to add to that, anybody. I didn't really have a question in there, but. 

Hannah [00:16:06] I think that we get so, so focused on things not being mundane that we get this idea that like, what is mundane has no value. But this is something that just the Lord has been teaching me a lot the last few years is like, life is short, life is so short and you only get to do the mundane for a little while. Like you don't, you're not doing the mundane for the rest of eternity. You're doing it for maybe 80 years. Like how many times are you going to get to say that I get to, I, I'm washing dishes, listening to worship music. And there's no one else in the house. So I think that's not gonna be what's happening. You're gonna be having a kid pulling on you and that's gonna be a joyful moment because you're not gonna have a kid who's at your hip pulling on your pants for the rest of your life. Your kids are gonna grow up and they're gonna move out of the house and then it's gonna to be you and your husband in this house by yourselves and then you won't be able to wash dishes anymore. These moments that you have feel like they're going to last forever but as I watch my older siblings, I'm child number six out of seven, I have five older siblings and I'm watching them go through different seasons in their life because my oldest sibling is 14 years older than me. So there's this huge gap. And I'm getting to see them reach seasons where something that they used to have to do all the time that was a mundane task, they're not doing anymore. And I have cousins and uncles and aunts who are getting to the point where they're no longer doing these mundane tasks and they're out of this season for that mundane-ness. And it's like, oh, I'm not gonna be doing this forever. How can I not be joyful that I'm gonna do it right now? 

Rick Green [00:17:22] Yeah, yeah. 

Hannah [00:17:23] Because someday it won't be. 

Rick Green [00:17:24] You sound like, I feel like the song by Trace Atkins needs to be played in the background. You're gonna miss this. 

Hannah [00:17:29] Exactly. 

Rick Green [00:17:29] Yeah, that's what I'm hearing. You know that you're already realizing that how do you know 22? 

Hannah [00:17:35] 21..22 in 30 days. 

Rick Green [00:17:35] In 30 days! At 21 already recognizing that even the little things the mundane things going back to that word, you're gonna miss even those. Yeah. Last break of the day folks. Hang with us. We'll be right back. You're listening to the WallBuilders Show 

Rick Green [00:18:56] Welcome back to The WallBuilders Show, thanks for staying with us. We'll get to conclusion now with Zach and Bella and Hannah talking about the Patriot Institute. 

Zach [00:19:03] Can I read a quote real quick? By GK Chesterton. 

Rick Green [00:19:05] Oh, of course. Go for it, Zach bringing out the quotes.

Zach [00:19:07]  GK Chesterton my favorite guys ever. He said, because children have abundant vitality, because they're in spirit, fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, do it again. And the run-up person does it again until he's nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exalt in monotony, but perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, do it against the sun, and every evening do it again to the moon. It may not be an automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike. It may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may that He has the eternal appetite of infancy, for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. 

Rick Green [00:19:56] Making daisies, man. 

Zach [00:19:57] Yep. 

Rick Green [00:19:58] Think of the mundane as making daises is what I got from that. That's good! 

Zach [00:20:02] During the Institute, Mr. Dunham gave me an opportunity to lead the class through one of his essays, GK Chesterton, one of those essays. I love GK Chesterton. And it was on creating adventures out of everyday life. And the essay was on chasing after one's hat. And actually it was Bella's sister, Millie, said one of my favorite quotes that came out by any student that came over a whole year, which was, I will see every inconvenience as a major dragon to make my pet. 

Hannah [00:20:35] Mmm! 

Rick Green [00:20:36] Wow, wait, say that again. Repeat that. 

Zach [00:20:38] It was. 

Zach [00:20:38] It was too good. It was I will see every inconvenience as a minute as a miniature dragon to make my pet 

Rick Green [00:20:45] And wait, Milly said that? That was her quote? Or that was her quoting GK Chesterton?

Zach [00:20:48] That was after reading his essay and talking about how there is adventure in the the monotony and just the pain of life. 

Rick Green [00:20:57] Yeah, adventure in the mundane. I will make every wait. Sorry. I messed it up every 

Bella [00:21:03] Inconvenient. 

Rick Green [00:21:04] Inconvenience, my miniature dragon. 

Bella [00:21:07] To make my pet. 

Rick Green [00:21:07] To make my pet. That is good! Oh my goodness, okay, I'm stealing that. I'm gonna, I will give Millie credit twice, and then after that, it's mine. Yeah, so that's the old Zig-Ziggler thing. First time I'll say, one of my students, Millie says, and the next time I say, I have a friend who says, and then I'll says, I've always said... No, I'll not gonna do that to Millie. I won't do it. Okay, we have three minutes left, so basically about a minute each to close. Whether it's Leadership Congress, Patriot Institute, or Summit Ministries, or Leaders Academy, or any of these other young leader programs, what would be kind of your 32 second elevator pitch to a young person? Get out there and do it. Get these interactions. Go be adventurous. 

Bella [00:21:51] Yeah. I guess I would tell you guys, have joy. This is your time to be able to dive deep into whatever the Lord's called you to. If that's your next season of going to film something, if that's your next season of going join an institute class, there's so many opportunities out there for you. And to have joy in whatever the Lord's set before you because our world has become so, um, exhaustrative with everything that there is to do, and there's not enough just joy in the smallness. And to find joy, it's not hard. You need to be able to step back and just think, okay, what am I grateful for today? I am so grateful for this. And so the next thing that you get to do is just find contentment in this, because it's gonna be, oh, I'm just waiting for this next season to start and I'm gonna be content in that. No, it finding contentment where the Lord's placed you right now. And it's really being able to say, I am ready to be His disciple. Like, I... I've accepted Him and I'm ready to be his disciple in whatever he's called me to, because it says that it is a joy for those that walk along with Him. And that we get to go through the trials and go through to pain because that draws us closer to Him. So I'd say drawing closer to Him looks like the everyday life and it looks like just being, doing the next thing that is right before you that is sometimes dull, it's sometimes mundane, but there's joy in it and it's your opportunity to choose that because it is choice. And sometimes it's a difficult one, but it's one you have to make because He chose that sacrifice for you. So if it's sacrifice you're making, if it is a joyful attitude, whatever it is, just go out there and do it. You got this. 

Rick Green [00:23:30] Do it, do it, and do it with joy. Zach, what's your 30 second elevator pitch to young people to go do one of these programs so that they can find some of these things that we've been talking about? 

Zach [00:23:41] You really have no excuse to be idle. There's so many people who are just coasting and accepting apathy as just the normal way of life. That does not have to be you. Go do one of these programs, go to some ministries, go to Patriot Academy, do one of these things because it will grow you and give you life experience. It's only a school year of your life. It is 100% worth it. There's no reason for you to be like everyone else. Live life as the adventure you're just supposed to live out as. 

Rick Green [00:24:13] That's good! 30 seconds Hannah.

Hannah [00:24:15] I'm actually going to read a poem and I'll read it as fast as I can, as clearly as I can. Okay. Disturb us Lord when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreame have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we have arrived safely because we sailed too close to shore. Disturb us Lord when with the abundance of things that we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life. Having fallen in love with life we have ceased to dream of eternity. And in our efforts to build a new earth we have allowed our vision of new heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show Your mastery, Lord. Where in losing sight of sand, land, we shall find the stars. Lord, we ask You to push back the horizons of our hopes, to push into the future in strength and courage and hope and in love. Just, if you're comfortable and happy where you are, then you're not challenging yourself enough. So go out there and seek the challenge. Go out to deep waters and be willing to let your boat be capsized so that the Lord can flip it back over. 

Rick Green [00:25:10] Ohhh! That's good! Losing sight of the sand we will find the stars.  All right young people check it out today PatriotAcademy.com/Institute I also mentioned some other programs Summit Ministries has a fantastic one-year program as well. Turning Point Prep Leaders Academy out of hot springs or come spend a year with us at the Patriot Academy/Institute. These three will tell you do the Institute. All those other programs are great too, but yes, I have scholarships to the Institute, so go today. You only have a couple of days left to be able to get your application in and get one of those scholarships, PatriotAcademy.com/Institute. Thanks to Zach and Hannah and Bella for joining us, for sharing so much. You can get all of that, by the way, at our website, wallbuilders.show. So today, yesterday, the two days before that, so for four days this week we've had a chance to learn more from these young people. I hope it's encouraged you to know that help is on the way, that there is a wonderful generation that God is raising up a remnant is rising and Patriot Academy and WallBuilders are right there at the forefront of it, right on the front lines, training these young to be the leaders of their generation and to step up right now and lead, not to wait until they're older, but find ways right now to serve in their communities. You can learn more and you can get your friends and family also on board. Send those young people to us. We'll send you back leaders, 17 to 25 years old, can spend a full academic year with us at the Patriot Institute and get college credit. They can figure out their life purpose. They're gonna certainly learn apologetics. I mean, I'm talking master's level stuff here. It's really good. And of course the communications training and as Bella was telling us, the firearms training as well. All of it right there, PatriotAcademy.com/Institute. Thanks so much for listening to the WallBuilders Show.