Episode Sixty-Five: The Interview - Calvin Tucker

Calvin Tucker has had so many miracles happen to him that it's clear that he's been called from the start. In this shorter, powerful episode he relates how he became Blacknoah1 on a popular platform and how saving the lives of animals was NOT in his plan.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 65 of Bite-Sized Blessings,

Where I had the pleasure of interviewing Calvin Tucker,

A dedicated and passionate animal rights activist in the Birmingham,

Alabama area.

Calvin first came to my attention as I was scrolling my news feed.

I read a news article about him and then,

On a whim,

Reached out to see if he'd be willing to be a guest.

He replied with an emphatic,

Yes.

On Instagram,

You can find him,

At BlackNoah1.

You can also find him on the Dodo,

Birmingham Real Time News,

And the Decatur Daily,

As well as on YouTube.

His good works for the animals in his area have made him a bit of a local celebrity.

Calvin has had miracles aplenty,

And this interview just goes to show that,

No matter what you have planned for your life,

Sometimes God,

Or the universe,

Or that energy has other plans for you,

And keeps you safe until it's the right time.

And now,

Episode 65 of Bite-Sized Blessings.

Sitting in a friend's house one night,

Four of us,

One has since passed away due to diabetes complications.

We were sitting at his house.

Two of the friends that are still alive can attest to this and verify this.

My phone rang.

The number was 777-777-7777.

I answered,

May I speak with Calvin?

This is Calvin.

Who is this?

Who I am is not important,

But who sent me is.

I say,

Who sent you?

God sees you and he's pleased with you.

Click.

I called it back and put it on speakerphone.

The number you have reached is a nice working number.

The next day I called the phone company.

I told them what happened.

The lady at the phone company said there's no way an area code,

A prefix in the last four could be all one digit.

I had it saved in my phone.

I say,

Lady,

I can drive down and show you.

I'm just me.

I'm authentic.

I don't know.

To answer that question,

I'm just a person that's determined.

I know what I want.

I don't take no for an answer.

And I'm a go getter.

I'm a go getter.

I mean,

If if it's something that needs to be done,

I feel like there's nothing I can't achieve.

So that's why I just go.

All right.

I'm a I'm a loyal person.

Very loyal,

Sometimes loyal to a fault.

I get burned a lot,

You know,

Helping people,

Putting people in position and,

You know,

They get what they need from you in.

And then that's that.

Right.

So I'm a very loyal person.

I'm a person with no fear.

I only fear God.

I just I just describe myself as authentic.

November 15th,

2015,

I was getting ready to get off work.

There was a little gray kitten sitting by the tire of my car.

I didn't like cats.

I didn't want to be around them.

I didn't want to be around you if you had cats.

I was allergic to cats.

Didn't want anything to do with him.

I really wasn't an animal person at all.

But there was just something about this particular little kitten.

The way he looked at me,

He ran maybe 10 yards,

Turned around and looked back at me.

And still.

I mean,

Six years later,

I still can't put it into words what that look did to me.

So it's because of Henry.

Henry is still with me.

It's because of Henry that so many animals have been saved.

It's because of Henry that I get out here every single day,

Seven days a week and do this.

It's because of that one cat that I go so hard to save all of these animals.

We were in a very religious household.

Grandparents was in the church.

Parents was in the church.

So,

Of course,

We had to be in the church.

We would have Bible studies at the house as I got older.

I started to stray,

Though.

But I never,

I never stray so far that I couldn't be real back in.

But I definitely started to stray.

I guess kind of like the prodigal son.

You know,

I just strayed and got heavy and deep involved into the streets with gangs and drugs,

Not taking drugs,

Dealing drugs.

But I always kept God in my life,

Even when I was doing wrong.

I always kept God in my life.

I knew who he was.

I knew what he meant to me,

Even though I was doing wrong.

I always continued to pray.

My family continued to pray for me,

My mom and my grandmother.

And I think through their prayers are the only reason I'm still here.

Did you have a moment where you thought,

OK,

This is not the life for me?

You know,

Dealing drugs,

Was it one moment or did it happen over time?

You got time?

You got time?

Because one podcast won't do it.

It happened over time.

God had a plan for me.

He knew it.

I didn't.

There was a lot of different moments.

We mean the archangel Raphael on three different occasions,

My phone ringing and the number being 777-777-7777.

And the person saying,

You know.

God is pleased with you and hung up.

And I call back and the phone said,

Do you do the number you have reached as a non-working number?

So it was it was a bunch of moments like that to where God was dealing with me in the spiritual realm and not of the earthly flesh realm.

I just knew I had to get out and change my life because I knew that something else was happening around me.

And it was far bigger and more important to me.

So I had to change.

I'm listening to these little stories that you're telling me.

And it sounds like I mean,

One of the things I think is absolutely you're being called or reminded now that you have work to do.

When you're called or reminded that you have work to do,

That can be really exciting or it can be very stressful.

How did you interpret that?

I didn't know what was going on.

I knew what was going on,

But I guess I had one foot in the street,

One foot into God.

So even though I knew what was going on,

It was like he would give me these reminders.

And it was so many different ministers would come up to me.

Tell me I had a powerful anointing on my life.

After the second one told me I had an anointing on my life that was so powerful and I had work to do for God.

I remember sitting on the foot of my mom's bed.

She was on the head of her bed.

She was watching Trinity Broadcast Network.

And I remember holding my head down into the palms of my hand as I sit and looked at the floor.

And I told her.

Today,

The second preacher in a week has told me I've got an anointing on my life.

So I don't even know what anointing mean.

And before she could answer,

The preacher on the TV said,

And you have an anointing on your life.

Now,

I looked up at the TV and they had anointing slash the definition.

And I remember looking back at my mom and she just had a big smile and she said,

You just asked.

And God answered that quick.

It was so many of those type of moments to where God just wouldn't let me.

He wouldn't let me go.

He wouldn't let me go,

No matter how hard I tried to run a fight.

He wouldn't let me go,

Even though I did sell drugs and and was involved with gangs.

I was never like some of my friends that were hard core killers.

You know,

I got I got I got friends and new friends.

Still have some of those friends.

That could kill you in an instant and wouldn't think again about it.

I was never that person.

I'm one that would always defend myself,

But I just wasn't.

I just wasn't heartless.

I got I had morals and I'm not saying that they didn't have.

I just didn't have something in me that they did.

A friend of mine described it perfectly.

He named a couple of friends,

Mutual friends.

And he said,

They were that line that that you cross that there is no turning back.

He named a couple of mutual friends and he said they have the ability to cross that line with ease.

He said,

I've seen you get super mad and you will go to that line.

But you step back.

Because at the end of the day,

I do have those morals and I do I do recognize that,

You know,

Actions that I make,

You know,

It could be a 10 second action that could cause me the rest of my life in jail.

So I have to make those,

You know,

You have to make those decisions.

So he described it perfectly.

I've never heard it put that way.

And and that's after him knowing me for so many decades.

You will go to that line.

But you you just ain't got something in you that'll let you cross it unless,

You know,

It has.

There's absolutely no way other than,

You know,

You got across,

You know,

Someone's messing with family or,

You know.

So God wouldn't let me go.

I lost 40 friends to gun violence in the city I'm from.

It's a very small,

Dangerous city.

I lost 40 friends to gun violence.

There was attempts on my life.

There's been attempts on my life shot at many times,

But never was shot.

God protected me because he knew.

I had this work to do.

I'm sure that every single day with the work that you're doing every day looks different,

But it also seems like you might have a plan for the day,

But then unexpected things happen.

But typically,

What is a typical day look like for you as far as your work?

I get up at six forty five.

I feed my four cats upstairs,

Scoop their litter boxes.

I put out food and automated feeders sort of feed them again at 10.

I give Raphael his meds,

His insulin.

I shower.

Brush my teeth,

Put on my clothes,

Come downstairs.

I then feed 16 more cats.

And scoop 19 more litter boxes.

I then leave the house.

I drive 45 minutes to my first location.

Where I feed it.

I get there.

I feed.

I give fresh water and I'll drive to my next location.

There's 20 different locations.

So that spans over 20 over four hours.

Just to feed.

All of my locations.

So on a perfect day,

A perfect day where there is no surprises.

That's me getting up,

Feeding my boys upstairs,

Scooping their litter boxes,

Getting myself ready,

Coming downstairs,

Scooping 19 more litter boxes,

Feeding 16 more cats,

Leaving the house,

Driving 45 minutes,

And driving around for the next three hours and 45 minutes.

All feeding cats.

Out of a 365 day year,

I'm going to say there's probably only 10 perfect days.

Because there's always going to be sick cats at a colony that I have to try to trap and get to the vet.

Today,

There was a sick cat that had eye infections going on.

So I was able to net her and I was able to put pteromizin in her eye.

Give her a milliliter of doxycycline in the food.

And tomorrow I'll net her again and do that until she's feral.

But I am able to net her and scruff her and put doxy,

Pteromizin in her eye and she'll eat the doxycycline.

There was the puppy thing today.

So I'm going to say 355 days of the year.

It's going to be those type of days.

I may get 10 perfect days of the year to where I can just go feed.

And in four and a half,

Four hours and 45 minutes,

I'm back at home.

But once I'm back at home,

The work doesn't end in because once I get back in,

I have 16 cats to feed again downstairs.

19 litter boxes to feed,

Scoop again.

I have to sweep.

I have to make sure it's clean.

Then I have to go upstairs,

Feed my four,

Scoop those six litter boxes.

So on average,

Even a perfect workday is still about eight hours.

That's that's a perfect workday.

Some days I'm out there.

I would say the whole workday would be 12 hours.

Easily.

It's nothing for me to leave the house at nine o'clock and return at nine o'clock at night.

And that's no lollygagging around.

There's no sightseeing or joy ride.

That's just out there working.

It's out there feeding.

It's out there trapping cats.

That's out there netting cats and putting medicine.

That's just that's just straight work and coming home to work again.

So that's that's that's what my days consist of.

And I really,

Really like the name of your Instagram account.

Black Noah.

Did you who gave you that name?

I gave it to myself.

I think it's appropriate because looking over your Instagram feed,

I'm just amazed and astonished with how obviously devoted you are to all of these creatures,

But how you never give up and you are just such a champion for them.

So,

I mean,

I think we need we need more people doing the work that you're doing.

I wanted to ask if people do people donate to you?

How do you make the money for all of these vet visits?

And then how can people donate money if they're listening to this podcast?

First three years I did this out of my pocket,

But it was on a way smaller scale.

I was maybe feeding roughly 40 cats.

I was going to the Alabama Spay and Neuter Clinic where it was thirty five dollars for each cat to be spayed or neutered and get their rabies shot.

They get the ear tip as well.

So it was thirty five dollars a pop.

I took a second job to help support that mission as well as to pay my bills,

You know,

Just normal bills,

Rent,

Power bill,

Water,

Gas to get around the fees.

I took a second job delivering auto parts.

I was featured on the Dodo a few times and that's when all the followers came.

And basically they just took it to a whole nother level to where now I feed over 100 cats combined at all 20 locations.

I have 20 cats here for my own and 16 that.

Some are up for adoption.

Some will live here until they die.

Mama and kitty boy.

Oh,

Feline leukemia positive.

You got Bleeck,

Who is FIV positive,

Which is no big deal.

FIV is is no big deal,

But she's also heartwarming and positive,

Which is a big deal.

So I wouldn't try to adopt her or,

You know,

The reality of it is no one is going to really it'll take a very I'm not going to say no one because there's always someone.

But it would take very special people to adopt cats like mommy and kitty boy who are feline leukemia positive.

People really don't want to adopt healthy cats,

Let alone feline leukemia positive cats.

Back to answer your question.

I have a large social media presence and they make it go.

They they send all the food for the cats at the arc.

They send all the food for the cats that I feed outside the 100 cats that I feed outside.

They never miss a meal.

They make regular dough.

I have regular donators like when she donates every Friday,

A certain amount like every Friday.

It's like clockwork.

But I get I get,

You know,

People that are sending one time donations,

Monetary donations.

I have people like her that donate every Friday.

And I have my Patreon people.

They really make it go in that Patreon.

They subscribe to what I'm doing.

And they pay a monthly fee,

Either three dollars,

Nine dollars or twenty five dollars or whatever they,

You know,

Feel comfortable with with with donating.

But last year in twenty twenty one,

I spent twenty one grand at the vet.

I'm pretty sure I'm a hit over thirty thousand this year just for one dog being fifty four hundred.

And I was adding up deals when March I was adding up deals from the three vets that I use.

And right now at about 19 grand right now.

So I'm pretty sure I'm going to hit thirty to forty thousand worth of it.

And that's what a discount.

That's what a 10 percent discount.

Some of the vets give me free free meds.

Some of the vets black out things,

You know,

If they're getting their vaccines and they're getting combo tested and they have an upper respiratory infection where they have me.

You know,

One particular vet,

He may just charge for the and they had to be bored at,

Say,

Four or five days while they hear from the from the upper respiratory.

One particular vet,

You know,

He may charge me for the combo test and the vaccines,

But he won't charge me for the board and anyone charge me for the meds.

So between the default,

My followers,

I don't even like to call them followers.

I call them team Black Noah.

I tell people all the time,

Only person to follow is God.

All of me.

So I just call him team Black Noah.

I prefer that word for them,

But they make it go without them.

It'll be a whole lot less animals in my area getting rescued and saved in medical attention.

Do you have a T-shirt yet that says team Black Noah?

I got to get one.

I got one that says so can and some other designs,

But I got to get a team Black Noah shirt.

I will buy one of those.

All right.

I will hold you to that.

My first birthday party,

Of course,

I'm turning one and I've seen the pictures of me sitting on the floor with my cake,

My little birthday hat on at the cake in between my legs.

Another picture I've seen from that same birthday party showed me with cake all on my face.

So basically my parents put the cake down and just let me play in the cake.

And,

You know,

Cake everywhere all on my face.

So,

You know,

You fast forward 25 years,

27 years or whatever.

And my dad asked me,

Did I see the other picture from that day?

I'm like,

No,

I only seen these two.

So he said in one of the pictures,

There was a lady bending down behind me.

Now it was only him,

My mom,

Myself in the apartment on this picture.

There was a lady bending down like she was crouching,

Trying not to be captured by the camera.

See a silhouette.

One particular night,

I was told that I was crying.

I wouldn't stop crying.

My dad found this little silver cross on the floor and he told my mom that she had dropped it and she said it wasn't hers.

Meanwhile,

I continued to cry and cry and cry.

He put that cross on the pillow.

And he said within 60 seconds I was asleep.

Sometime during the night.

The cross fell off the pillow.

And I instantly woke up and started crying again.

I cried and cried and cried.

He looked for the cross until he got down on the floor and looked under the bed.

Found the cross had fell out from behind the pillow onto the floor.

So he got down and got the cross and he placed it back on the TV.

I mean,

On the bed,

The pillow.

He said within 60 seconds I was asleep.

After doing some investigative work,

They found out that a lady had lived there.

She had had an overdose in the house.

Her friends took her dead body out to the car.

They sat in the car for two hours.

They brought her dead body back in the house.

They left.

They came back and got her dead body.

They then took her dead body downtown Los Angeles and put her on the bus.

Bus manage.

Other stuff started happening around the house.

I guess my mom.

Was like,

I'm not having it.

I'm out.

We're out.

My dad stay.

You say when my mom took me and left,

Whatever it was,

Got more violent.

They had moving.

One day he was in the kitchen cooking eggs and he say turned around and there was a lady just standing there looking at him.

Say it was a short,

Blonde.

She had blonde hair.

She was short.

She had a blue jacket on.

She was just looking at him.

And he said,

They looked at each other for like 10 seconds and then the phone rang.

And when it rang,

It made him jump.

He looked at the phone and when he looked back,

She was gone.

He packed up and left.

I started getting these preachers approaching me saying that I had an anointing on my life.

After the second one,

Which I told you,

I said I didn't even know what anointing mean.

And the TV said,

You have an anointing on your life.

And I looked up.

When these preachers continued to come to me and tell me I had an anointing on my life.

They would always tell me that I had an anointing on my life and I had something powerful to do.

And they would invite me to their church.

Each one was a preacher.

I never went.

You fast forward to sitting in a friend's house one night.

Four of us.

One has since passed away due to diabetes complications.

We were sitting at his house.

Two other friends that are still alive can attest to this and verify this.

My phone rang.

The number was 777-777-7777.

I answered.

I speak with Calvin.

This is Calvin.

Who is this?

Who I am is not important,

But who sent me is.

Say who sent you?

God sees you and he's pleased with you.

Click.

I showed them all the number.

I called it back and put it on speakerphone.

The number you have reached is a nice working number.

The next day,

I called the phone company.

I told them what happened.

The lady at the phone company said there's no way area code a prefix in the last four could be all one digit.

I had it saved in my phone.

I say,

Lady,

I can drive down and show you a number with all sevens called.

I did research that number is one of God's favorite numbers means completion.

You fast forward to one night when I'm reading my Bible on the floor.

I get up,

Get in bed.

It's 3 a.

M.

I later learned at 3 a.

M.

Is the witching hour.

I'm thanking God out loud for things.

I remember it specifically thanking him for my grandmother,

Who at the time was still alive.

She was she was well into her late 90s,

Mid 90s.

She probably was about 94,

95 at that time.

She lived to be 101.

So she lived maybe another six years.

But I remember thanking him for her fear of being alive and,

You know,

Just me having health,

Just random things.

And when I turned on my side,

There was a little green light going into my apartment in my window.

I sleep with a totally dark.

I have to sleep in total darkness.

I have to sleep with nothing on no TV and nothing like that.

I like it.

Totally quiet and totally dark.

It was a green light inside of my window.

As I set up.

The green light disappeared.

I was laying on the third floor.

I ran around the living room thinking I was going to catch somebody coming down a tall ladder.

Didn't think at the time.

And you know,

The third floor like Atlanta got to be 50 foot tall.

I was thinking in the flesh,

Ran around.

I saw my blinds moving.

I'm thinking as a break in.

When I flipped the light on,

I noticed the glass sliding door was shut.

The line started moving and swinging violently out.

It's the vertical blinds,

The kind you twist and then you can just pull.

Well,

They're swinging back and forth.

Boom,

Boom,

Boom.

Two of them fly off and fly across the living room.

I remember grabbing my keys.

I unlocked the door,

Put my hand on the door knob.

I was about to twist the door knob and go out and get in my car and leave.

And something spoke to me,

Not audible,

But just inside.

This happened 2004.

And I'm telling you this story like it happened 10 minutes ago.

This is how vivid it is and how vivid it was.

And something said,

Don't open the door.

You're going to see something you're not prepared to see it.

Not open the door.

There was a TV across on the TV across the room by the door.

I gathered up enough courage to run and get cross,

Grabbed it,

Ran back to the door.

I held it out.

I say,

Whatever you are,

By the blood of Christ,

I control you.

I say it over and over again,

Maybe at least 50 to 60 times.

The blinds got soft and soft until they just barely started moving and they stopped.

Call my mom.

It was about it was four thirty at this time.

She finally called me back at seven thirty that next morning.

She said she had 56 missed calls for me.

I told her what happened.

She gave me her preacher number.

I called her preacher.

I told him what happened.

He told me he didn't want to tell me anything from the flesh.

She wanted to pray on it and get back with me.

Four hours later,

He called me back.

He said,

You had a demonic spirit in your house last night.

He said,

I don't know why,

But I can tell you that God told me that you were anointed and you had something to do for him.

Mind you,

All the other preachers all around have been telling me this at different stores.

He said something I'll never forget.

He said,

Before your mom met your father,

Satan knew your first,

Middle and last name.

That's how important the work you got to do for God is.

I would say about two months later,

Me,

One of the same friends that saw the 777 number was at my house and another friend.

I sat on one end of the sofa.

One friend sit on the other end of the sofa.

One friend laid on the carpet.

It was eight o'clock that night.

We were watching a movie at the blinds and drawing.

They was they was open all the way.

Nice night out.

We watching a movie at the door open,

Sliding door open.

Got a fresh breeze coming in off the outside.

All of a sudden,

My whole balcony,

My whole living room just blinked a bright green booth.

Go on.

Bring in on the couch.

Almost jump into my lap.

I jump.

Friend was laying on his stomach with his leg scratched out.

Jumped up,

Set up.

We all ran outside.

Open the door.

Ran outside.

Totally still night.

Quiet.

Nothing.

Not a peep.

You heard nothing.

You hear a cricket or nothing.

Just totally calm.

My whole living room and the whole balcony turn a bright green.

It was just it was a flash.

That's what it was.

A flash.

It was just poof poof.

It may have lasted a second.

It was just gone.

I started doing some research and I read everything.

I read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations.

I read the Quran.

All Suras in the Quran.

I read the Torah.

I read the Dead Sea Scroll.

It led me my research led me to the archangel Raphael.

You know,

The Bible mentions our change,

Michael.

Our change,

Gabriel.

But there's seven archangels.

There's different hierarchies of art of angels.

One in particular.

The angel of healing and nature being our change.

Raphael.

When people have been blessed to see or fortunate enough to see the archangel Raphael,

He comes in some form of green,

Whether it's a green or whether it's green flashes,

Whether it's a green waterfall is going to be a green.

I wasn't sure,

Though.

But this is what was leading me to our change.

Raphael.

Fast forward nine years past and I went to see a minister about this.

Told him everything I'm telling you and a lot more.

Some stuff I got to say for the book.

So I'm not telling you everything.

Some stuff I got to say for the book.

Nine years have passed.

And that night I left the church feeling disappointed because he had nothing for me.

Absolutely nothing.

It was a waste of time.

Well,

It wasn't a waste of time.

It wasn't a waste of time for the simple fact after telling him everything I'm telling you,

Plus a lot more.

He had nothing.

No answer.

I say it wasn't a waste of time because I just told his man I hadn't seen that green light in nine years.

As I left the church to drive to my mother's house to take her some food.

There was the green light.

On the side of my car window,

About the height of my car window.

I did 60.

It did 60.

I did 20.

It did 20.

I was able to stop and get a get my phone out.

And I took a picture of it.

And I had a picture of the green light.

It was about the size of a soccer ball.

If I stopped at a light,

It stopped and it just hovered on the side of my car.

That night,

I had the feeling,

Even though I left the church feeling nothing because this man had nothing.

Whatever it was,

Was letting me know you hadn't seen me in nine years,

But I'm still here.

I ask God if this is the R change,

Raphael,

Show it to me and make it clear.

So I'll be able to discern it and not have any doubts.

The very next day,

Very next day.

I'm at work working with kids with autism.

Just so happened to be in the office.

Now,

You got to keep in mind,

I'm working in the classroom as a teacher's aide.

I could not went to the office,

But for whatever reason,

I went to the office just to get something.

Secretary asked me,

Could I answer the phone if it rang while she ran to the restroom?

So sure,

When she got in the restroom,

The phone rang.

A man called.

He wanted to inquire about getting his kid into the program.

I say,

Sir,

I'm just a teacher's aide.

I just work hands on with the kids.

I have no clue about how you get them in because they have to be tested and things of that.

It's not just.

A school where it's a campus,

365 acre campus,

And there's houses on campus where the kids and adults stay like is a program and they have to be tested by the state and things of that nature.

So it's a product.

It's not just,

Hey,

I want my kid to go here.

Like there's a process you go through.

So as I'm telling him,

Sir,

I have no clients.

We work with the kids in the classroom and in the house settings.

I don't know.

But the secretary,

We can give you all of that information.

She just ran into the restroom.

If I could put you on hold or take your number down,

I have a call.

You write back.

He was like,

Sure.

I'll be home for the next 30 minutes.

Tell her to give me a call back.

I say,

Absolutely.

I say,

Can I get your name and number?

He said,

My name is Raphael.

I say,

Your name is what?

He said,

My name is Raphael.

And he gave me the number.

Mind you,

I had just asked God the night before if this is the archang of Raphael,

Make it clear.

Next day,

This man called.

Out of a billion names,

His name is Raphael.

Still wasn't clear.

I still wasn't sure.

So I said,

God,

I ain't trying to test you.

That's the last thing I'm trying to do is test you.

But if it's him,

Give me one more sign.

And I know it's him.

Out a week later,

It was Halloween Eve.

I'm training a new girl at one of the houses off campus.

Basically,

The kids get in from school.

Well,

These was adults.

They're adults,

But they stay in these houses because they have different mental illnesses.

They'll never be able to stay on their own.

And most of them have,

You know,

The IQ of maybe a 10 year old.

So we get them to be in and everything and give them their meals.

And after dinner,

You know,

They watch TV.

And then around about eight o'clock,

They go to their room lying down.

So from about nine to eleven,

We just basically have paperwork to do.

Paperwork may only take 45 minutes.

So you have maybe another hour,

15 minutes just to watch TV into the next shift.

Come on at 11.

Then you will brief that that shift.

What happened during the day and his client have a problem and this client didn't want to take his medicine,

You know,

So forth.

So it was a quiet night and I'm just meeting this girl at the train and her that day.

So,

I mean,

You know,

We're making small talk,

You know,

Hey,

How do you think you're going to like the job and have you ever did this kind of work?

Just,

You know,

Small.

So one thing lead to another.

And,

You know,

She actually I have any kids and I'm like,

No,

I don't have any kids.

Do you?

And she said,

Yeah,

I got a five year old son and.

Mind you,

It's Halloween Eve and the next day is Halloween.

So she was saying that her son wanted to be a teenage ninja mutant turtle and never seen the show in my life,

A day in my life.

What I learned from her is the leader of the turtles is Michelangelo because her son wanted to be Michelangelo.

They went to every store in the world.

No Michelangelo.

So obviously a lot of other little kids wanted to be Michelangelo.

And she says one name,

Donatello.

That's really funny.

So a kid wanted to be him since he couldn't be Michelangelo.

Can't remember the third one that he wanted to be,

But couldn't find him either.

So when they got to the last store after looking for three days in a row,

The man said we have no turtle costumes is really popular this year.

So she wanted him tried to talk him into being Snoopy or Charlie Brown or Superman.

He needed to be a turtle.

That was his thing.

He five years old.

He want to be a terror.

The man went back.

Obviously,

He saw the distress in the key disappointment in the key tonight before.

So he goes to the back.

He found one teenage mutant ninja turtle costume.

So he comes out and the kid is jumping up and down.

And she was like,

Is it Michelangelo?

He was like,

No.

So he looked at the name and it was Raphael.

And she said her key was a happy and I say,

Wait a minute.

What was his name?

She was like,

Raphael.

And my mouth just dropped.

She was like,

Wow,

What's wrong with you?

Like Raphael or something.

I like,

Ma'am,

I ain't never seen a show a day in my life.

I don't know those turtles name.

I'm that name has a different meaning to me.

And she was like,

You OK?

Because visibly,

I guess I must have been shook because she was like,

You OK?

You like look like you might need some water.

So.

I like now I need to go outside and I'll be back.

And I went outside and I just remember just thanking God.

Like,

All right,

God,

I knew it was our change.

Raphael had been following me to this day when I go to these drug houses and I free these dogs.

I can't explain it,

But I have a calmness.

I have so much peace and I know I'm facing the unknown behind that door.

You got a house that maybe costs five thousand dollars,

But it got ten thousand dollars worth of cameras up.

So I know what time it is being in the city where I grew up at.

And I know it's danger behind them doors.

But I know that dog right there with that 20 pound chain on ribs is showing and I ain't leaving without this dog.

So I knock.

You know,

And I'm calm.

I feel at peace.

I feel like nothing's going to hurt me.

And I know why.

It's because Raphael is with me.

I know he is.

I know you just said that you feel this calm when you approach these houses.

Do people answer the door when you knock most times?

Oh,

Yeah.

Ninety nine percent of them answered the door.

OK.

And then you just have a conversation with them and in general,

Are they OK?

There's no script.

It's just who comes to the doors is how it flows.

If an older person come to the door,

You know,

It's basically,

Hey,

I noticed the dog.

And it's basically that with everybody.

But it's like no script.

It just comes out different.

If an older elderly person answered the door,

Hey,

How you doing,

Ma'am,

Sir?

I noticed,

You know,

I mean,

No disrespect.

I noticed this dog was in the yard and it's only chain and the ribs are showing.

I run an animal rescue.

Is there any way I can help you with this dog?

Can I get you some food?

A doghouse?

I notice there is no shelter.

And,

You know,

There's new laws passed that the dogs have to have shelter.

I'm not here pointing the finger,

Ma'am,

Because I know things can get tricky,

But I know I can get you some doghouses if you need some.

And I can buy you some food.

And if you allow me to,

If you load the dog in your car,

You can follow me right to my bed and I'll pay for the video.

If a younger guy come to the door and the pans are sagging and,

You know,

Got a blanket behind a blank behind his ear.

Hey,

What's up,

Dude?

Check this out,

Bro.

Hey,

So the lingo changes.

It goes from how you doing,

Ma'am,

To now start the street speakers,

More street lingo.

Like,

You know,

What's up,

Cuz?

Like,

Check this out.

So I just,

I just,

You know,

I just speak the lingo.

Well,

I'm so grateful for the work you're doing.

And it's really been actually for me really fun following your Instagram feed because you are doing a lot.

You are very busy and just the sweet pictures of the new owners with their pets.

And they're so excited and so happy.

I tell them all the time,

Don't ever stop sending me pic because you don't know how many days when I'm just tired.

I'm tired.

I'm going,

But I'm tired.

And I'm sitting in the car,

Maybe in the car 15 minutes before I even crank up because I'm just trying to gather my thoughts and my energy.

Like we've been a dry this 45 minutes again.

We go drive around for the next four hours and then you got to come back home.

So I mentally drain.

And out of the blue,

My tech,

My phone or a ring or I get a buzz and it's an update of one of the cats or puppies I say,

Then I sit there watching and had the biggest Kool-Aid smile.

And it's like,

Man,

Somebody just shot me with a thousand volts of energy is like,

Man,

Now I got my swagger back,

Crank up the car and I'm going and going.

I'm doing 80 going to that first spot because I just feel good.

So so that's why I tell them all,

Man.

Oh,

Ever don't don't thank you bother me like you don't know how many days where I'm just mentally and physically more mentally drained than anything.

And I just get that unexpected text message with,

Hey,

Look at him.

Look at her.

Look how well they're doing.

And it gives me an instant boost.

I don't drink red bulls,

But I would imagine it's probably the equivalent to down in 15 red bulls all at once.

Oh,

Oh,

Thank you for listening to Episode 65 of Bite Size Blessings.

I'm so very excited that you all got to meet my guest,

Calvin Tucker,

Who is so passionate and so steadfast in his support for the animals in his area.

His courageous spirit knows no bounds.

If you'd like to donate to Calvin's ministry,

You can find him on Patreon.

Just type in Calvin Tucker and Patreon and it'll take you right to his page.

He has several levels at which you can subscribe.

So pick one and know that you're contributing to a very worthy cause.

I need to thank Calvin for his big heart and his generosity and being willing to be a guest.

And I need to thank the creators of the music used for this episode.

Frank Schroeder,

Sasha End,

Alexander Nagarada,

Mikael Hellman,

Chilled Music and Ryan Holt's music for complete attribution.

Please go to the Bite Size Blessings website at bite sized blessings dot com on the website.

You'll find links for all sorts of delicious things,

Including a link to Calvin's Patreon.

Thank you for listening.

And here's my one request.

No matter what you're doing for this world,

No matter what good works you are striving to achieve,

Be passionate and dedicated.

No matter what.

And never,

Ever,

Ever,

Ever give up.

You.

You.

Reviews

Such a beautiful testimony. It truly blessed my soul💙💙💙🙏🏼✨God bless him in all his work saving all those precious animals