Erin & Ben Napier - Liberty University Convocation

welcome welcome to Liberty University thank you bit was just like what is when did we record that hazing three seasons and you're about to rip come out with season four you know that's gotta be maybe three years old know what you were just hearing us talk about that was like last year so I'm worried about your memory a lot going on in the last year yeah Lance can you uh can you real quick before I know a lot of our students know your show some of them don't yet so we'll introduce that to them but can you tell us a little bit about yourself then I've heard that you're actually a pastor's kid and you actually youth pastor yourself I am a Methodist that's right so the salsa dancing would have been allowed if you know my dad was over this so yeah both my parents were Methodist ministers I grew up a preacher's kid and uh we were talking about before we came down about how I went into ministry right out of car during college I became a youth minister and did that for ten years and that was actually for me it was a really that was an easy like that was taking the the safe way out as a preacher's kid was to become a minister and so then when God was telling me like I you're done playing it's time to do it I want you to do that was the really hard part for me was oh we'll cover that yeah we'll get to that so ya later yeah tell us about yourself she's my time keeper Aaron really like if it were up to me he'll talk about that one thing for the rest of the morning so I'm gonna be the one that's like all right wrap it up okay um yeah but my my parents uh I was born and raised in Laurel Mississippi my mom and dad my big brother Oh anybody Katyn shells is here she knows about Laurel um yeah my dad was uh he just retired he's a physical therapist doctor physical therapy they're for ever and my brother is now just him he's exactly the same person he's a doctor physical therapy at the same hospital doing the same thing and my mom is super creative I think that's where a lot of my creativity comes from when I was little I thought she was a professional artist she did a lot of painting and making things but it turns out she's a realtor I just didn't really know she was with me all the time but uh yeah so my family is Baptist yeah I grew up going to a Baptist Church in the country and here here we are how'd you meet so so David this is a good first week of college so I'm a 19 year old freshman because I took a year off after Aaron was in the we were both in the cafeteria though not together and she was walking across the cafeteria and I saw her and I really noticed her because she had a pixie style haircut like really short like an inch long haircut and and she was wearing these loose jeans and a tight t-shirt and don't know you're like I would like I would like to pray with that young lady right yeah I would love to pray oh man was moving I want to play with the nation's that's right a lot of them so begin to question I asked around about her to see if she wanted to come to prayer meeting and she she was dating someone so I thought okay well you know he didn't know is Ben was like the most popular guy on campus he wasn't he was like the president of every organization it was a really so it was it was Jones junior college if y'all haven't met Kayden she'll she can tell you about it it's basically Community College actually for a community college is like 5,000 students though anyway anyway very active campus life he was very active in the campus life yes and I was in the art school and I was a yearbook editor and so I just had this huge he was like my celebrity crush no no no you're jumping way ahead so like the first time the he asked that we met the first time we met was that a lot move out day freshman year we're moving out of the dorms a friend of mine was going to be transferring away and so I said well let's get lunch you know last opportunity and I we went to McDonald's where America eats and there wasn't a chick for likes we went to McDonald's and Aaron was they were their roommate and I was friends with her roommate and so I thought this is the opportunity fine friend what do you mean by friends with a roommate you were not really friends we wanted to be friends with you yeah well she we were acquaintances we knew each other and so I was I walked over you know I'm tall not very dark and not very handsome but I I walk over and I'm like hey Kristen you know how are you and you know the other yata and she says have you met my roommate Aaron and I said no hey I'm Ben Napier well I'm like a nervous wreck because Ben Napier is coming toward me and he says nice to meet you and she says I know who you are I've seen you around campus you look just like a guy I work with and the subtext of that was I have a crush on this guy that I work with because he looks like Ben Napier but I didn't say that you look like a guy that I work with and I you know I am as slick as it comes I say oh he must be really good-looking I can't tell him yes you are and I love you and you smell good so instead what have you have you always been attracted to Santa figures yes she was a ho ho ho she was a huge her celebrity crushes our Ryan Dunn Zach Galifianakis no Chris Farley you're a mashup I mean it's like anyway that's irrelevant you know it's very relevant what's a generational curse that may be the biggest stuffed animals like the very biggest ones we call you anyway anyway what I said to him was after he said that was I guess and then she looked away which was like total crashing I've never struck out ever I don't think it did ever happen to him his first time but I anyway and I again same thing I just like totally nosedive because I don't know how to talk to him because I'm in love so anyway he would always he was the guy who would sit with the person who's eating alone in Student Union he wasn't like popular in the like a popular sorta way he just was friends with everyone he wanted everyone around him to always be happy and be having a good time and so I just wanted to like be in his circle but I was too shot like a little elf yeah [Applause] I'm about to wrap this up for you it's a short story from here and it's now December of our sophomore year of college and the yearbook staff has to decide on the ten most interesting people to feature in the yearbook and who is it gonna be everybody raises their hands and says Ben Napier that guy is awesome and I said listen all the other people that were on this list were like award-winning people like they were just amazing incredible stories in mine was literally that I was own or the president of every committee I always had a good time and my GPA was like you know it was not very good so anyway I'm like hey I can head up the story if you like I can take the pictures and or I can you know write the story I can be there I can head up that story and so he comes through yearbook room to talk about the story and then we're inseparable for six days and decide we'll get married six days later I said I'm in love with you and I'm gonna marry you one day six days later and that's the story that goes against everything we've been teaching all semester sorry guys sorry but I guess Santa yeah when you know a twinkle in his eye alright so how did you how did you so then then you got me how did you um how did you get the show I mean you that's not what you were doing like when you don't begin know going after like Instagram nations and yeah so we're in the age of social media and is that Clark how much time we have left we have more than that we have more that okay so Aaron went out of college launched this internationally successful station a company it was unbelievably in that video I said Aaron's the most creative person I've ever met and she truly is and so she she launched this company it was hugely successful we were we moved back to our to her small town we both got job offers there or out out of college and then she left her job to start this company and we were helping to revitalize the town we were working really closely and telling the story through social media and next thing you know HGTV reaches out yeah it was just a freak thing and at that same time Ben was in youth ministry yeah and it was becoming apparent that he's like having a difficult time knowing how to minister to people who are in a different world it seems like like what a snapchat and and he was just like I don't know how to keep on ministering to people who I feel so disconnected from and I feel like I'm getting too old for this and like what do you do you think do you think I should shut out it was terrifying oh there was about a year there I actually I ran for local office liber it was about two years there where I was really going through a vote Big Ben yeah I was vote big man was the campaign we lost spoiler alert but uh yeah so it was it was a real struggle for a couple years but the day that I resigned I that was the first time HDTV reached out I mean it was like two hours later we got this email no you didn't resign you wrote your letter yeah I read my letter of resignation and we were scared and then we got this message an email from a girl named Lindsey watt Horne she is our like Jewish angel from New York City who emailed and said I just am in love with your town and your love story and what you guys are doing in Laurel and I just wondered if you've ever thought about doing TV and at that point it didn't feel like oh this is what God has planned for us it felt like an affirmation of okay keep doing keep following yeah so on the really riding the wave of more successful shows that are built around a particular town like chip and Joanna with Waco and those things they knew that they knew that that was successful people were very interested they see you in this small southern town of Laurel Mississippi tell us a little bit about that town and why it's so important that you guys basically only do the work that you do in your small city would you tell us a little about the intricacies of Laurel so Laurel is a a weird town for the south of it it didn't exist until the 1880s and it was an industrial town so very blue-collar very lunch-pail bootstraps town but the founders were these highly educated extremely successful people and so creative people native people and so there is this interesting dynamic of culture and industry that worked together really beautifully and our architecture shows that like these these wealthy lumber barons who set up these huge sawmills I mean Laurel was the yellow capital of the world and it was milling more yellow lumber every day than the rest of the world combined and so there was a lot of wealth and they brought used their wealth to do a lot of good they had a lot of education for african-american children first it was like state-of-the-art at the time yeah the first school so their their idea was if these if these people are going to be working in our meals we want them to be educated we want them to be safe so the first school for african-americans the first real school for african-american people in the state of Mississippi was in Laurel and it's still there it's prestigious if you get to go to Oak Park and then there was all this art we had the first art museum in Laurel anyway and so over the years Laurel became a less and less shiny jewel in the crown of Mississippi as industry changed the sawmills dry like the it was all industry and sawmills and all of that just kind of dried up and the Hurricane Katrina was really devastating where we lived and so many people left Laurel and they just like took their insurance money and they left and there are still a few houses in Laurel with tarps on the roof I think like 90% of the rooftops in Laurel had to be replaced after Katrina it was that bad we lost 50 percent of our trees and around that time that was laurels real low point I think people just didn't believe in it anymore people were like let's just move out to the country and we had just finished college a few years later and you know I'm an artist I have a degree in art and you have these dreams of someday I'm going to live in New York and this amazing loft and we'll travel the world and but the thing is the thing that's great about a place like Mississippi is you can live the American dream for the most modest amount of money in the world it doesn't take much to have a loft like you might have in New York City and so that was our first home we had an old building in downtown Laurel built in 1910 that we restored ourselves and it felt to us like this is really cool I mean I know it's Laurel but who gets to live in a loft like this and I just started documenting that and a blog that I wrote every day about the best thing that happened every day called make something good today and then I shared it on Instagram and Ben shared it on Instagram and we got involved with historic preservation and it's like you learn if any of you here are you art majors music majors listen so here's the thing like you you a town and you hear you've heard the saying it takes a village so with Laurel it was very much about that when when I got on board with all Main Street they wanted young people they wanted creative people and all that and it was like yeah you'd need those people they're the ones that are going to tell that story but you also need attorneys and business owners and accountants and all these you know people who do that so yeah woo accounting and lived with accountants and college can't do it and so you know we we learn to work together as a as a community as a body but it really can start with the creative people like your job is to tell the world what is cool and they'll don't believe it so you can fake it guys you can fake it till you make it Laurel was not cool but I was telling them it was and I was taking pictures in just the right light and if you share it that way and you're passionate and you're authentic about the things that you love and you believe in then other people feel like it's it gives them permission to believe in it too and that's how it kind of happened with Laurel and now you know it it's just it's like unbelievable to see the way everybody comes together and uses their own skills and gifts and talents to make Laurel amazing it's not been and I get way too much credit like way way way way way too much we're just the the creative we're the art department and that's it and everybody else pulls their weight and it makes a city come back to life it's unbelievable Sara at its height the city was about 70 80 thousand people so there are a lot more homes and then what the population would need today right and so you've got about how many people living in the city now now we know close to 20,000 18,000 a lot of those homes were torn down but they're still like I mean there are streets and entire streets that nobody lives on so there's neglect and then the storm comes through and then there's flights from that and so in a city that's really declining I'm just curious how many of our students and we have a global you know body here 95 nations represented but how many of you come from a city that is 50,000 or less that would be considered a small town okay so you're from that kind of alarming and you you decided you decided to really build roots in your hometown and bring the tv-show of renovation and everything there and so does that give you an opportunity to really show the world a little bit of what is good about the south as well yes okay I have something to say can I say it okay okay so the thing is that people love about our show is they're like you're so scrappy and I love that you guys save and reuse and repurpose and do it yourself and the reason we do that is because we're southern it's like our mamas would whip us if we throw away perfectly good cabinets but I think that's the thing that makes people intrinsically southern is taking whatever modest thing you have like pork belly and making it something delicious do you know what I'm saying like that is where southerners really shine because we are the poorest state in the country but that doesn't make us the least valuable I think it makes us the most industrious very good that's good thank you I just thought of that man necessity is the mother of invention and I think it also has allowed a lot of this creativity to tell a story you guys really we're that kind of proud let's watch this video about them just always showing their southern side today we've got a few southern isms that you need to add to your vocabulary spell me you need a break you need a break but you don't need to stop the work so to spell someone is to step in and take their place while they take a break nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs you're just nervous you it's it you're afraid it's an extreme level of a whoa enter well Ben are we gonna go swimming at Lake walk away and then it's all under when we get down to work oh and to depending on today you learned more southern isms that you can use to impress your friends and make them believe that you've been to the deep south so how many houses have you renovated in three seasons and I don't know yet one season coming up we're on like 38 yeah at the end of the season we'll be 50 Wow and so in a town like ours it really is and that begins to reshape the whole city other Commerce comes in from it but Kenny talked to me about the dynamic of you walk into a street sometimes the most neglected home in the street becomes all of a sudden by the end of you guys you know putting your efforts in the nicest house on the street and it shows the humanity of the neighborhood there's got to be good bad and ugly that comes into that dynamic because not everybody gets blessed with that talk to us about what you've experienced inside of that it's you know it's a small town we know pretty much everybody there and you see that like so if we're if we're doing a house on say Euclid Avenue which is a really short street in Laurel it's a beautiful straight straight line it's on Euclid Park it's amazing it's all these little cottages but if we have camera trucks and construction crews and because if you think about like we do so we do four houses in seven weeks at the same time we're clogging up the works man we can we can shut down the street so hard so fast but it's it's we we descend on a house like an army like it's you know we've got 15 carpenters there five painters just plumbers electricians everybody there and neighbors sometimes get a little bit irritated about that because you know oh well they always Park in that spot on the street never mind that it's a public street and my taxes paid for it just like your taxes pay for it but they get irritated because well you parked in front of my house and you know that's where I always Park my other vehicle and now I got a part on the other side of my driveway and and it's just little things like that and like you said that's the humanity of it like there's there's gonna be jealousy and it's there may be jealousy because their house isn't getting fixed up or it may be jealousy that they can't you know they can't afford to do it or maybe jealous that we're Aaron and I are getting credit for saving this town but on the other hand of that we see so we start working on a house and the neighbor next door paints their front door or works in their flowerbeds or paints the whole house yeah you see um in the same way that a virus spreads so does wellness it seems so we'll do a house on a street that's been neglected for 50 years and you know you start to notice the neighbor next door is raking it's it's a little that's the little thing they can do and that makes the neighborhood a little bit better so it's um it's a ripple effect and man we feel so honored that we get to be the little rock that starts the ripple sometimes and so when you're watching this humanity on display of people like you said maybe sometimes showing entitlement or maybe sometimes showing envy or jealousy or whatever it manifests itself to look like and then at the same time you see people being generous beyond what they even thought they were capable cuz sometimes they do things for a house that you're not capable of doing you you kind of get to see that this is a community that's having to learn how to celebrate someone else as when this is also a community that's having to learn how to be patient while they're being inconvenience for the good of someone else and because you live in that city you run into these people later right and do you get this kind of come full circle with some of these I mean you're in the grocery store with these folks we see people all I mean every single person we've ever restored a house for we're gonna bump into them at the grocery store at the loblolly festival yeah and and we're gonna run into that neighbor who called the cops because we blocked their driveway and you just have to smile and you know realize every everything house we work on we don't you don't know what people are going through you don't know what someone's life what's happened to them you know we don't tell everybody everything and so we don't know what some of these people have experience or what they're going through that day that they call the cops on us they may be having just a really bad day and so it doesn't happen often yeah yeah weird it sounds like we're like you know gonna be on cops one day yeah but the the real joy and honor and what we do is the fact that we get to show an example to the world where we take this broken thing this house that's maybe a little bit soggy and rotten and it's a little bit like us right none of us are perfect we're all a little soggy and rotten we start off you know from the womb we're perfect we're beautiful where we have no problems no health issues and then you know over time the world creeps in and things change yeah the world the weather the wind the Katrina's in our lives and then we see through these new homeowners eyes who are seeing this house that's not just a house for them it's where they're gonna live this is where their story is gonna live out for maybe the rest of their days that is an example of redemption and restoration that we get to be a part of and it's just crazy like I in the moment it just feels like Christmas morning opening gifts you get to watch them open this gift that we've been in on from the beginning so it's not a surprise for us but it's very surprising for them and that's all it feels like in the moment but then when you step back and realize and you see the ratings the day after an episode and you realize 1.8 million people watch that happen you just have to wonder like what positive effect can it have it's more than home renovation isn't it you know yeah I hope it is anyway it's a physical manifestation of really what people long for uses restoration and a second wind and and to be made new again at the fall and you know in Genesis God makes the perfect garden and then sin comes in and and it breaks it and everything about the human spirit is trying to get back to the garden trying to be made new again where Jesus comes to make all things new and this shows like this exude that what does it make you feel when you know the big moment and all these shows are the reveal moment what does it make you feel when you just like see in someone's eyes like this is where this is your bedroom this is your kitchen this is your home what's the feeling that it gives you when you offer someone that kind of gift it's like Aaron said it's like Christmas morning but and this is something that we didn't know until we had kids but like we always loved you know Christmas morning is great for everybody but until you have a child and you see the excitement in their eyes then it's like okay this is this is what it's about it's that giving it's like when you watch your favorite movie a million times and then you sit down to watch it with your friend who's never seen it and you just look at them the whole time at your favorite parts you know it's greater to give than to receive and you hear that your whole life and you're like yeah okay yeah I agree it is great you know but until you you really see that and you know that's when you for me anyway for Christmas morning because you know again Santa Claus but it's that's that's what it's like is you know seeing these and for some of these families it's it's really it's different for every family because some people hold that in and they don't you know and you go through it and you're like oh I was hoping for a better response if we're just being honest you know but then some people and then some people are like you know they've we work with a lot of we've done houses for like you know doctors and people who you know they can afford to buy brand-new house that they want to but they love this house for this reason and they get to see it restored but then we we get to work with some families who whatever had anything nice yeah we did a house for a pastor I'm thinking about the rice family in season one and he cried and he's a preacher and he's like this motorcycle rod and you know just don't treat themselves usually that's the thing to treat someone like Luke yeah ponder Luke ponder sees I mean he bawled oh he's the color blonde minister season two I don't know if you guys saw it but oh it was a good one we gave him glasses at the end that so he could see colors and he saw a painting that his dad had done and he had never seen it in color like he'd always seen it and then he got emotional and then I was pregnant I was just a mess yeah so it um it's different honor it is that's an incredible honor the short answer I just think it would be a bad stewardship of just you guys as our brother and sister in Christ and even what shows like yours hint to and we didn't just remind like we are made in the image of God and God so loved the world that He gave there's one an only son and so we're made in the image of God to be givers and there's something about not just receiving and I new things sometimes pastors are either way to giving to themselves or not giving enough and we need to learn how to be able to receive well but we don't need to rob ourselves is one of the greatest gifts God gives us is the gifts that we get to give others they're all his so we never give someone who were to give someone we give what God's given us back to someone and you guys have rendered your gifts of craftsmanship and creativity that way in that same spirit in getting ready for our interview with you we were just inspired by the show honestly and your faith and so we've got three guys we put them on the camera that are from the circle and it's Caleb Caleb Josh Sawyer these are just three good dudes and I want to I want to tell you a story real quickly we decided this semester that we wanted to bless our different dorms and different opportunities and fun things that we were gonna do and so we found out that these guys happen to be three really really good guys that love the Lord and and God's brought them together they didn't know each other before this moment once from the Carolinas and two are from this from Virginia and and what they didn't know was inspired by what you guys do we decided that we were going to Arendt of eight their dorm but try to keep it a secret from them and so it's been an elaborate hoax that's taken over two months of prep and during convos while you guys are in here and during campus comm we've been sneaking into their dorms and and measuring and getting things ready and about a week ago about a week ago they were told that there's some damage like the water damage or something in their dorm and so they got they got moved out of their dorm and got moved somewhere else and then we have been full-throttle working on stuff my wife does a lot of decorations around here the commuter lounge and different stuff so Jennifer kind of took this on and these guys haven't seen the finished product would you like to watch the finished product of their dorm [Music] [Applause] i'm sanna now I know you're pretty excited about getting to see what all has been happening so let's check it out [Applause] [Music] first of all we've got a big screen TV here we've got a Nintendo switch we also threw in Apple TV so you can watch all the Netflix you want we took a lot of your furniture that existed in here we repurposed it we met an entertainment there with your dressers we took the desk and made a kitchenette fully stocked kitchen microwave and the coolest thing of all is this right here and we know you're musicians and I know you're thinking man I'm not allowed to have a loud app in a dorm but this isn't an app this is check it out so refrigerators we completely reimagined your cabinetry we gave you some new organization systems and a brand new tank for the living area we threw in a brand new loveseat and a leather chair to match we also do in three chairs back there where you can turn them around this whole place can be perfect for a community guys we gave you a great study space you can have plenty of space to do your homework wheel off to the bed you get your brand new bedding and we even gave each of you a personalized in your home bar stuff on your wall we got a poster signed by most of the guys on the football team we got you a neon sign from Liberty and we put your guitars on the wall each bunk has its own personalized white USB port in charge of things hey guys we knew that your whole door and we want to come check this place out so we went ahead and stock this entire place out with enough snacks for you to host everyone on the hall yeah man bless you and congratulations we love you guys congratulation guys [Applause] right off the bat before we do we do move on our good folks from construction our leaders from IT this was a collaborative effort from so many people that we don't think enough around here who keep everything beautiful can we thank all the people that work diligently thank you for working on that guys may the Lord bless you may you use this alright for his glory host community groups enjoy what God's given I mean come on one more time give it up for these guys they haven't walked in they're about to leave and go walk in for the first time such good dudes by the way all right real quick last question last question how can we be praying for you as you go into season the next season of your show how can we be praying for you so we're in and I you know we we always ask for prayer and and you know the fact that we're doing this really weird job lick it's a very public public and you know we have a we have a baby girl who's not with us on this trip unfortunately the next time we'll be sharing bringer and so you know just that being parents and being in a job like this but we would rather turn that around and pray for other people in the world that we're friends with that are going through things Darrell and Johanna calfy they're they're from here and went to Liberty and he and I struck up a friendship through leather of all things and we talk a lot and they're actually leading Morgenthau yeah he's at Warren Giles they're both alumni from here and she's actually there they're pregnant with her third child and she has breast cancer and which is a really like he and I were talking this morning he came over for coffee and like there's no data on that like being pregnant and having cancer like the doctor said you need to terminate this pregnancy and start treatment now and they said no you know our we're not going to do that so pray for them and then Ava sherbondy I don't know who Ava is a little girl in Wisconsin she's 7 years old and had a traumatic brain injury she's starting to show signs of waking up so we just want to pray for that family that's going through the hardest thing imaginable why would you that now let's just pray for them father we thank you for what you're gonna do for Ava we we believe that you're a great healer we believe you're able so we pray for a miracle for her and we thank you Father for this precious couple not just Liberty family as alumni but believers who are in this moment where there's the good news that they're having a baby and then there's the horrible news of cancer and so we pray for provision stamina for them Lord we pray that we as their local community can figure out ways to maybe take something off of them if some of our guys can just go over their house and cut the grass so that he's a little less worn out or if we can just run a grocery list for this family so that they can have support lord give us ways that we can come alongside and serve them we pray for good news we pray that doctors are wise and and discerning would not miss anything that they would see things that Lord even through the healing of what we're asking for that those who are in the medical profession would scratch their head and say that we can't do this but then someone greater than us did and they'd be pointed to the great healer and I pray father for this precious couple thank you Lord that even when they're asked whether they can be prayed for they defer it to others such a such a moment of selflessness and honor but we pray blessing on their life god we pray for protection let them never get so famous that they stop being faithful Lord continue to protect them we pray for sweet Helen that Lord she'd be raised up raised up with the same goodness that we see in them that's really given to them by you that she'd be exuding the fruit of the Spirit we pray for their city that God you bring unity to their city and growth in their City Lord do to Laurel what you've done in Waco I just do our friends the Gaines Lord just bring commerce into it blessing into it and learn there's so much to celebrate in the south it's come along way but we know that there's still the there's still racism there's still division there's still all the things that come with systemic poverty and so we pray for awakening in the south and we pray that God South would Bend its needing you and come to you and we pray for a revival we love you Lord you've given us a chance today to laugh and to hear their story and be encouraged by it and so we thank you for this couple who gave their time to us in this very busy season of their life we pray this in your name Amen hey can we just thank our brother and sister again they're amazing you guys are dismissed see you this weekend

Channel: Liberty University

Views: 168,759

Rating: 4.821238 out of 5

Keywords: Liberty University, LibertyU, Liberty, Jerry Falwell, Home Town, Erin Napier, Ben Napier, HGTV

Id: 312Y_oMA2RQ

Length: 39min 12sec (2352 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 16 2019