Well, hello, my friends, and welcome to the Live Inspired podcast Monday Morning Moments with John O'Leary.

For an entire year now, you've shared stories with us of

individuals in your world who embody what it means to be on fire for good. We have received

almost a thousand nominations, nearly all of them, someone's parent or sibling or teacher

or pastor, colleague, or friend.

But last month, one came in and it caught my attention.

It was, in fact, celebrated someone the nominator did not know at all, but had admired from afar.

It just so happens, however, that I know the person they described personally,

and I was overjoyed to bestow this honor on my friend, the joyful, the beautiful, the talented,

the gifted Stephanie Shostack. You see, as we prepared to film on fire the film last year,

joy was the emotion that I hoped people would ultimately leave the movie theater with after watching our story on the big screen.

And it was most certainly that emotion that I witnessed when Stephanie Shostak met the

lady she would later portray in the film. A lady who is also one of the heroes, not only in the

film, but in my life. That woman's name is Susan O'Leary, my mom. Now, my mom has had an awesome

life, but also a life that is far from an easy one. Blessed with a husband of now five plus decades and six kids and 22 grandbabies who all love her,

she's also experienced numerous losses along the way.

And during the agony of a child being burned in a house fire, it's unimaginable,

and then a decade later losing that entire home in a house fire. It's unimaginable. And then a decade later, losing that entire home

in a second fire, it's also unimaginable. Dealing with significant challenges regarding her

physical health while also serving as a full-time caregiver to her husband with Parkinson's disease.

This is just some of the challenges that my sweet mother

endures and deals with daily. And yet, every time I'm with mom, I'm with a woman who radiates joy,

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