Uncle Si & John Luke Hope 2026 Will Hold No More Funerals

Summary

Duck Call Room Podcast: Episode Summary

Episode Title: Uncle Si & John Luke Hope 2026 Will Hold No More Funerals
Hosts: Si Robertson & Justin Martin (Martin), joined by John Luke, Hunter, Scott, and others
Date: December 30, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the Duck Call Room’s casual and heartfelt transition from 2025 into 2026. The crew—led by Uncle Si and Justin Martin, with regulars like John Luke—dive into hilarious family banter, discuss the highs and lows of the year gone by, reminisce over musical tastes, talk YouTube and Spotify Wrapped stats, and focus on hopes, resolutions, and a little wisdom for the new year. There is both laughter and some introspective moments, with themes of letting go, learning, relationships, and faith.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Farewell to 2025, Hello 2026

• The group reflects on how tough 2025 has been for some, trading humorous jabs and sharing hopes for a better new year.
  • John Luke: “2025 can eat my butt cheeks. ...We’re done with you, 2025.” (02:00)
  • Martin: “You run through those stages of life…Can we see if we turn this page that everything will be all right?” (02:08)
• Uncle Si, as usual, is unfazed by New Year’s Eve traditions, except for poker:
  • “I don't waste my time pull junk like that. ... If it keeps me up, anything that keeps me up is junk.” (02:47, 02:57)

2. Food, Traditions, and Good-Natured Arguments

• Black-eyed peas and cabbage come up as classic New Year’s food. Si’s sticking to duck and dressing, while the crew debate food versus band:
  • Martin: “New Year's Day, you eat some black-eyed peas and cabbage?” (03:40)
  • Si: “I’ll probably eat duck and dressing.” (03:50)
• Playful confusion erupts over “Black Eyed Peas”—the food or the band—culminating in Si realizing the joke midstream:
  • “Oh, you talking about that crazy bunch? ... I thought you... the band?” (06:06)

3. Upcoming Duck Dynasty Content & Family Updates

• The crew hints at "Duck Dynasty: Revival" Season 2 coming in March 2026, teasing funny episodes and reflecting on past shooting chaos (10:19–11:32).
  • Martin: “So we got new Duck Dynasty coming for everybody.” (10:24)
  • John Luke: “I know of a certain episode that I will enjoy, but I’m not going to tell people about it.” (10:30)

4. Listener Appreciation & Heartfelt Letters

• John Luke shares a touching letter from a listener, Ashley, whose son underwent serious surgeries but is doing well, highlighting the podcast’s comforting role for fans:
  • John Luke: “She has had a son with three brain surgeries in the first four months of his life, but now he’s doing great... She listens to us on tough days.” (14:43)

5. Faith, Hope, and New Year’s Wisdom

• Uncle Si and Martin stress the need for hope, renewal, and learning from the past:
  • Si: “My hope for, you know, the human race is... I sure hope we have a better year in 2026 than we had in 2025.” (18:01)
  • Si: “When are we going to learn to try God’s way? Love him first and foremost and... love your neighbor.” (18:20)
• John Luke injects some philosophy:
  • “What is something that you are going to leave behind in 25? And what’s something that you’re going to take with you?” (32:50)

6. YouTube & Spotify Wrapped: A Window into the Crew’s Psyches

• Everyone shares their algorithm-driven digital lives, from home repair and leatherworking to DIY and Christian hip hop:
  • Hunter: “I had listened to a thousand and sixty eight different YouTube channels in the past year.” (20:47)
  • John Luke's Top Spotify Genres: “Christian hip hop, worship music, country, musicals.” (30:04)

7. Resolutions, “Words of the Year,” and the Wisdom of Experience

• The group banters about choosing a word for the new year—“Twins,” “Double,” “Reset,” and “Relax” are discussed.
  • John Luke: “My friend… had the best New Year’s resolution ever: no new vices.” (32:16)
  • Martin: “I am gonna make a healthy attempt to, to leave Copenhagen in 2025.” (34:01)
• Uncle Si focuses on growing as a person, mentoring, and the importance of relationships:
  • Si: “Try to improve me first…then... try to help [others] improve.” (36:42)
  • Si: “The most important thing in your life is a relationship.” (41:19)
• Martin and Si discuss finding the joy again in duck hunting and life by focusing on people and community, not just the activity or goal:
  • Si: “If all it was to hunting was pulling the trigger, I would sell every gun I got… It’s not about the hunt. It’s about who you’re with when you’re hunting.” (40:45–41:10)
• Wisdom through experience:
  • Si: “Experience is the best teacher.” (46:09)
  • Hunter: “Some people experience things, but they don't learn anything.” (48:47)

8. A Hope for “No More Funerals” in 2026

• After a tough year of loss, John Luke sets a hopeful, earnest tone:
  • John Luke: “Also, I don't want to be a pallbearer this year. So if we're anywhere near close… Don’t you go dying on me. It’s another goal of mine for 2026.” (52:14)

9. Faith as the Ultimate Resolution (Closing Reflection)

• John Luke wraps up with a powerful scriptural reference:
  • John Luke: “If you're not right with Jesus Christ, repent and be baptized. ...that will be the greatest New Year's resolution you could ever make.” (57:36–57:44)
    • Reference: Acts 2:37-39

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

[02:00] John Luke: “2025 can eat my butt cheeks...Get out of here. We're done with you, 2025.”
[06:06] Si (Realizing Black Eyed Peas confusion): “Oh, you talking about that crazy bunch? Yeah. Oh, good grief.”
[14:43] John Luke (sharing Ashley’s letter): “She listens to us on tough days. ...keep trudging.”
[18:01] Si: “My hope for, you know, the human race is, hey, I sure hope we have a better year in 2026 than we had in 2025.”
[18:20] Si: “When are we going to learn to try God’s way? Love him first and foremost and then...love your neighbor.”
[32:16] John Luke: “No new vices…Stick with your old ones.”
[34:01] Martin: “I am gonna make a healthy attempt to, to leave Copenhagen in 2025.”
[40:45] Si: “If all it was to hunting was pulling the trigger, I would sell every gun I got at the house. …because, hey, that goes from mom and dad to neighbors to brothers, all that. The most important thing in your life is. Is a relationship. How many do you have, and who are they with?”
[46:09] Si: “Experience is the best teacher.”
[48:47] Hunter: “Some people experience things, but they don’t learn anything.”
[52:14] John Luke: “Also, I don’t want to be a pallbearer this year. So if we're anywhere near close… Don’t you go dying on me. It’s another goal of mine for 2026.”
[57:36] John Luke (referencing Acts 2): “If you’re not right with Jesus Christ, repent and be baptized… that will be the greatest New Year’s resolution you could ever make.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|----------------------------------------------| | 01:09 | Episode intro, John Luke as "holiday guy" | | 01:57–03:02| Farewell to 2025 banter | | 03:46 | New Year's Day food & Black-eyed peas bit | | 06:06 | Black Eyed Peas (food vs. band confusion) | | 10:19 | Preview of Duck Dynasty: Revival S2 | | 14:43 | Listener letter from Ashley, comfort and appreciation | | 18:01 | Hopes for 2026, faith and improvement | | 20:47 | YouTube Wrapped, learning and hobbies | | 30:04 | Spotify Wrapped, musical taste confessions | | 32:16 | “No new vices” as a New Year’s resolution | | 36:42 | Si's mentor goal, relationships, Constitution referenced | | 40:45 | Joy in hunting/relationships | | 46:09 | Wisdom through experience | | 52:14 | “No more funerals” hope for 2026 | | 57:36 | Closing with scripture and faith |

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Tone and Language

• The vibe is classic Duck Call Room: playful, warm, rowdy, and wise.
• Language veers from silly (“barely beatin’ the weirdo allegations”) to frank (“2025 can eat my butt cheeks”) to sincere and spiritual.
• Quotes are mainly verbatim from the hosts, delivering their trademark blend of humor and wisdom.

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Final Thoughts

The episode is a blend of New Year’s reflection, family hijinks, and genuine encouragement. The crew’s friendship and faith shine through, grounding the humor in meaning. Core themes are resilience, gratitude, learning from experience, and keeping relationships (earthly and spiritual) at the center for the year ahead.

Closing Call:
As John Luke says, turning the page on the calendar doesn’t change everything, but it’s a chance to reset, deepen relationships, and “repent and be baptized”—rooting the coming year in faith, community, and a good dose of laughter.

Transcript

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[Martin]

Welcome back to the duck call room, ladies and gentlemen. As we promised, our holiday special guest is back with us and here for New Year's Eve's. Back in the house, baby John Luke.

[John Luke]

He just keeps showing up and I keep loving it.

[Hunter]

I like holidays.

[Sigh]

He's a holiday.

[Martin]

Oh, man, this is going to be great. If he's our holiday guy, I'm.

[John Luke]

Sign me up.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

He entertains me. He says funny things that I go and tell my wife later.

[Sigh]

That.

[John Luke]

Barely beating the weirdo allegations. I've been laughing about that for a week.

[Martin]

Yeah, that's a good one.

[Hunter]

Mary Kate was like, I can't believe you said that. We are. That's what we're. That's the direction we're headed.

[Martin]

Yeah. Yesterday was full of good one liners. Wow. What a life, man. Here we are. 2026 is upon us. It is. It is here.

[John Luke]

Thank God.

[Martin]

That is here.

[John Luke]

2025 can eat my butt cheeks. Yeah, whatever.

[Hunter]

What?

[John Luke]

Do you ever kiss my butt? Get out of here. We're done with you. 2025.

[Martin]

Yeah. You had the. Your 2025 was similar to my end of 20 and most of 21. So I get it. You run through those stages of life.

[John Luke]

Let's move on from this one. Chop it up and go for four.

[Martin]

Yeah. Can we see if we turn this page that everything will be all right? Like can and it. Hey, I will say it settles down. Yeah. So sure.

[John Luke]

That's why I'm looking forward to it.

[Martin]

For your sake, though. Following that, I got. I figured out we were having twins. I don't know that. I don't know that I want that for you. But if you do, I know a guy that's right where you are.

[John Luke]

I'm leaving that to my namesake, John Luke. Sigh what's your plans for the end of 2025?

[Sigh]

Carry on.

[Martin]

Carry on. Are you gonna ring in the New year? You're gonna be up at midnight?

[Sigh]

No.

[Martin]

Are you going?

[Sigh]

I don't waste my time pull junk like that.

[Martin]

Are you gonna, like, do the New Year?

[John Luke]

It's called New Year's Eve. Junk.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

Why's it got to be junk?

[Sigh]

All right, if it keeps me up, Anything that keeps me up is junk.

[John Luke]

What about poker?

[Sigh]

Well, hey, that ain't junk.

[John Luke]

It keeps you up.

[Sigh]

That's money. Yeah, but that's money involved in that.

[John Luke]

That's money going out.

[Sigh]

Not always.

[Martin]

Just most of the time.

[Sigh]

No, I didn't even.

[Martin]

That doesn't. Yeah.

[Hunter]

Does it?

[Martin]

Well, when you.

[Sigh]

What goes around comes back around.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

So we just give it to each other back and forth.

[Martin]

Yeah. Just a circle, you know?

[Sigh]

Just a circle.

[Martin]

Well, that's what all good friends should do, right? It's.

[Sigh]

It's about. It ain't about the money. I told. I told them. I said, if you ever make me mad and make it about the money, then you all be broke.

[Martin]

There you go. I'll break you New Year's Day. You eat some black eyed peas and cabbage?

[Sigh]

No, probably not.

[Martin]

Really?

[Sigh]

I Probably.

[John Luke]

That's not good.

[Sigh]

I'll probably eat duck and dressing.

[Martin]

Oh, I do love black eyed peas.

[John Luke]

The only person that ever figured out cabbage is the hibachi.

[Sigh]

Oh, no. Well, that's good because. Hey, then. And give a good salad and you got to have the pepper.

[Martin]

Yeah. Chow, chow. Whatever you want to call it. Pepper sauce. There's a bunch of different. A bunch of different things. I have greens, but I do enjoy black eyed peas, so that's a big.

[Sigh]

With a big pot of greens.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

And pepper sauce on both of them.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

Delicious.

[Martin]

Yeah. That way you start 2026 with a good clean out.

[Sigh]

That's right.

[Martin]

You don't carry none of 2025.

[Sigh]

You got to have a colon cleanser, boys.

[Martin]

You do. You get it on out the way.

[Sigh]

Right.

[Martin]

And call it.

[John Luke]

There's just other ways to do it besides black Eyed peas.

[Martin]

But they're good.

[John Luke]

Their music's not good. They don't taste good. I'm all forms of Black Eyed peas.

[Sigh]

Yeah, they do.

[Scott]

You take that back. The Black Eyed peas are awesome.

[Sigh]

They are.

[John Luke]

You are.

[Sigh]

It is. He's right. They are awesome.

[John Luke]

I know. John Luke's barely beating the weirdo allegations. But you. So hold on. You're a Black Eyed Peas guy? Big fergalicious kind of fella.

[Hunter]

Yes.

[Sigh]

Hey, that's a. That's a son. A grandson of a farmer, so surely he likes Black Eyed Peas.

[John Luke]

But the band don't make any of all the things that Hunter is.

[Martin]

Hey, that's.

[Hunter]

That's outcast.

[Martin]

Outcast? No, that's the one you should be listening to. Oh, so you're a big Outcast fan.

[Sigh]

When gardens come into being.

[Martin]

Who.

[Sigh]

Okay. Gardens we're talking about.

[John Luke]

Well, I am.

[Sigh]

Yo. Tomatoes and cucumbers and all that stuff start growing.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

Then I. All you cook that way is, hey, your first meal. Is everything out of the garden fresh?

[Martin]

There you go.

[Sigh]

You hear that squash cut you up some nice big tomatoes.

[Martin]

We call the Black Eyed Peas. Fresh anymore?

[Sigh]

No, they're. They're.

[Martin]

They're kind of leftovers, right? At this point. Are they still. Do they still make new music?

[John Luke]

No.

[Sigh]

What do you mean left?

[Hunter]

They don't make new music.

[Martin]

Hold on.

[Sigh]

Peas are not left.

[Hunter]

We have to address this.

[Martin]

No, no, do not. I want to keep this going. There's a reason I'm doing what I'm doing. I want to see how long it takes I. To figure out we're talking about humans.

[John Luke]

And not there's a group of humans known as the Black Eyed Peas.

[Sigh]

Oh, you talking about that crazy bunch? Yeah. Oh, good grief. I thought you.

[John Luke]

Well, we were talking about both.

[Sigh]

Well, I know.

[Martin]

I wanted to see how long we could keep Divergent Conversations going about.

[Sigh]

That's.

[Hunter]

That was the Bean and they're the.

[Sigh]

You're talking about the band the Black.

[John Luke]

Eyed, which apparently Hunter's into. Which doesn't really match his.

[Martin]

He's into vintage Black Eyed punk rock movie going. Christian metal.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

Eclectic self.

[Sigh]

Well, the Black Eyed Peas are kind of like a Black Crows. Are they?

[Hunter]

I don't think so.

[Sigh]

Yeah, they are. Yeah, they are.

[John Luke]

How's that?

[Martin]

I would call those on severe opposite ends of this.

[John Luke]

They're not on the same no Spotify playlist.

[Sigh]

Well, they're both weird.

[John Luke]

The Black Crows are awesome.

[Hunter]

There is a world where. Where is a Love and She Talks to Angels would be on the same.

[John Luke]

Playlist and it would be on my phone because. No, not where's the Love?

[Hunter]

I think I like I have a playlist and that. Both of those are on it.

[Sigh]

That's all it was.

[Martin]

Remember those allegations you thought you were beating? Uh huh.

[John Luke]

I'm so confused by Hunter's love for the Black Eyed Peas. It's like it offended him. Is that like a top 10 musical group for you, sir?

[Scott]

I. I started listening to them while I was editing this like a few months ago, and it. They're amazing to edit to.

[Martin]

Wait, time out. How do you listen to something while you're editing?

[Scott]

So I. I already know what you guys said, and I wrote down notes. Yeah, so if I'm just looking at my notes and I already know what you guys are saying, I don't have to pay it. I'm just looking for camera cuts and cutting out weird noises.

[Martin]

How many channels do you have going on in that frazzled little brain of yours?

[Hunter]

So that means that every episode of Duck Car Room in the last few weeks has been influenced by the Black Eyed Peas. By the Black Eyed Peas?

[Sigh]

Yeah, by the Black Eyed Peas.

[Hunter]

Subconsciously, you've been fergalicious editing this podcast to the Black Eyed Peas last week.

[Scott]

It was a newer but 90s style rap.

[John Luke]

You told me that. What is that?

[Martin]

Hold on.

[John Luke]

I'm interested in whatever this is.

[Scott]

The album was called Punk Tactics.

[Martin]

Let me.

[Scott]

Let me see who does it.

[John Luke]

I'm telling y', all, I know we have a podcast, but Hunter deserves his own just so people can ask him questions and then be confused by him.

[Scott]

Joey Valence and Bray.

[John Luke]

Don't know what that means.

[Scott]

Yeah, sorry, I'm not trying to steal the show.

[Martin]

My bad. No, you're fine.

[John Luke]

No, we want you to. Someday, son.

[Martin]

Yeah, this is interesting.

[John Luke]

I just didn't know a kid with anime shirts listen to black eyed peasants. Never saw it coming.

[Martin]

I will say, he is a coat of many colors over there. Yeah. Lots of layers.

[John Luke]

Give Scott a raise is all I gotta say.

[Martin]

I do have one question, though, for you, Hunter. Have you. You didn't buy a ring for Christmas, did you? No.

[John Luke]

Okay, what about New Year's?

[Sigh]

Not yet.

[Hunter]

No.

[John Luke]

What about Valentine's?

[Sigh]

Not yet.

[Hunter]

No.

[John Luke]

What about St. Patrick's Day?

[Hunter]

No.

[John Luke]

What about my birthday?

[Sigh]

Maybe. Maybe.

[John Luke]

Oh, all right.

[Martin]

Okay. So we made it to May. May is a maybe.

[John Luke]

I should have went with April Fool's Day. I couldn't think of any major days after St. Patrick's Day.

[Martin]

Easter. Wow, that's a big one.

[John Luke]

Got to put it on me.

[Martin]

Got to put it in an egg. But don't hear me telling you how to do your job.

[John Luke]

Hey, remember when this thing first started? We were part of some proposals.

[Martin]

We were?

[John Luke]

Or do we have to know? I hadn't got.

[Martin]

Oh, I was hoping we had a new one.

[John Luke]

No, no, people hadn't asked. Apparently they didn't like our suggestions on.

[Martin]

How, but I think our track record was good.

[John Luke]

It was.

[Martin]

I mean, I think it.

[John Luke]

We even had somebody proposing this in here, right?

[Martin]

Yeah, I had. Yeah, we got the picture somewhere of somebody on a knee in here.

[John Luke]

If Philip McMillan was here, he could pull him up in three seconds or less.

[Martin]

But, yeah, Philip keeps a very strong catalog of all those things, but.

[John Luke]

Yes, he does.

[Martin]

I don't know what is. What is coming in 20. 20, 26. Like the revivals back, right?

[Hunter]

Revival season two.

[Martin]

Yeah. Do we know when that is yet?

[Hunter]

They're saying March right now.

[John Luke]

March.

[Martin]

So March of 2026. So we got new Duck Dynasty coming for everybody.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

I know of a certain episode that I will enjoy, but I'm not going to tell people about it. You'll have to tune in to find out.

[Hunter]

I enjoyed all the. Season two is really funny.

[John Luke]

Season two.

[Sigh]

I was.

[John Luke]

I was on one particular one with your children.

[Martin]

Oh.

[John Luke]

Still have nightmares from it.

[Martin]

Yeah, they went shopping.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Jockbury. Yeah. Yeah. I was trying to.

[Sigh]

I.

[Martin]

We did them. We did them all. So back to back and so fast. I don't even remember which one was season one and which one was season two. I'm trying to figure out.

[Sigh]

I could keep up with.

[Martin]

I'm trying to figure out because we were shooting pickups for ones that were about to air, and I just got it. It's all.

[John Luke]

It's all up in there.

[Martin]

All scrambled in there. Yeah, that's.

[John Luke]

That'll be good. That's 2026.

[Martin]

Oh, but the first one of season two is really fun, right? That was the competition stuff.

[Hunter]

Oh, yeah.

[Martin]

Yeah. I mean. Yeah. Yeah, that. That one's a cool one. Yeah, that one was. That one was fun. That one was a lot of fun to be a part of. So you. That you have to wait and see if that one is.

[Hunter]

Yeah, I know. I don't want to, like, give it too much away.

[Martin]

Yeah. But that one's top tier. That one. That one's good.

[John Luke]

That is pure torture, what we just did to people.

[Martin]

I know, but you got to get.

[John Luke]

Like, hey, it's coming in March. Here's you a teaser. It's great.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Wait, it is. That first one was solid.

[John Luke]

That's a long time to wait, though, now.

[Martin]

They'll be fine. Well, some people aren't. Some people will be listening to this the last week of February. Like, not everybody listens to us all in one shot. Thanks to Home Serve for sponsoring this episode. Look, owning a home is awesome until it isn't right. Like it's not, you know, you get a pipe to bust and repairs don't come on a schedule and they certainly aren't cheap. And regular homeowner insurance generally doesn't cover a lot of the day to day wear and tear on your house. But our friends over at HomeServe can plumbing failures, H vac breakdowns, electrical issues. You're often on your own for those and home serve can help you for as little as 499amonth. They've got your back. Repairs hit fast and hit hard. You could be searching for a contractor in a panic or you could already be on the phone with HomeServe's 247 hotline scheduling a repair. It's super simple. You choose a plan that fits your needs and budget and then when something goes wrong, you just call their 247 hotline to start the repair process. They've helped homeowners like you for over 20 years with a trusted national network of 2600 local contractors and with four and a half million customers, they maintain a 4.8 out of 5 post repair rating and an A plus Better Business Bureau rating. You know, they're the real deal. It's nice to have somebody who's already searched the trusted contractor so that you don't have to go to Google and find out who fixes this in my area. I don't know them. Go to HomeServe. They've already got it. Help protect your home systems and your wallet with home serve against covered repairs. Plans start at just4.99amonth. Go to homeserve.com to find the plan that's right for you. That's homeserve.com not available everywhere. Most plans range between 499 and $11.99 a month. For your first year. Terms apply on covered repairs.

[John Luke]

We do have some people this year that have tuned in and I appreciate them very much but they like, hey, just found the duck call room. Listen to every one of them.

[Martin]

Yeah. By the way, thank y' all for sending all your Spotify rap list.

[John Luke]

Gotta give it up to my Irishman.

[Martin]

Yeah, he's still what? Top point zero, 000.

[John Luke]

He's still number. You ain't catching that. That guy's.

[Martin]

We're not catching Andrew Quigley.

[John Luke]

Andrew is some guy sent it in and thought he was going to be number one and got doubled by Andrew. So Andrew, you're the man if you're out there. I do have something from Christmas though, left over.

[Martin]

Martin.

[John Luke]

I got a note from Ashley and I Gotta apologize to Ashley, because I probably should have had this earlier, but I get a lot of packages at work and I won't slip through it. But she asked on Instagram if I wanted any Christmas tree cake earrings.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

And I sent it to Brittany and Allison, and Brittany said, oh, heck, yeah.

[Martin]

Oh, yeah. I was in that group tech.

[John Luke]

So, Ashley, thank you for the Christmas tree cake earrings. I might wear them myself. And she sent us these little ducks snowman. But also she. I'm just going to give her a shout out because she sent him. Oh, what are these called?

[Sigh]

A letter.

[Martin]

A letter.

[John Luke]

That was weird.

[Martin]

A handwritten letter.

[John Luke]

Yeah, handwritten letter. Threw me all off. But she. She basically was saying she listens to us on tough day. She has had a son with three brain surgeries in the first four months of his life, but now he's doing great. But some days are tougher than others. And I just wanted to tell her, keep. Keep trudging.

[Martin]

Holy cow. Yeah, that's incredible. Yeah, that is incredible. Well, here's to hoping and praying that 2026 continues to trend well for you.

[John Luke]

Yeah, it's trending well. But Ashley and all that she's got going on said, I want to make Allison and Brittany, and there's a second pair that Lottie's getting because you ain't got no girls, Chris. I was like, what a nice person. So thank you, Ashley.

[Martin]

I don't know what I'm gonna do. I come home, Brittany wearing Christmas tree cakes on her ears.

[John Luke]

We don't want to hear about it. This is a kids podcast, man. Yeah, children are listening.

[Hunter]

Is this a kids podcast?

[John Luke]

A lot of kids listen.

[Martin]

Yeah, a lot of kids shout out to Big Mac.

[John Luke]

He'll know. I got to bring Big Mac in here, by the way.

[Martin]

Oh, man, he's.

[John Luke]

He's the world's biggest Duck Dynasty fan, and he's in Ben's class at school, and he asked me questions about Duck Dynasty that I can't possibly remember. And then the other day, we were playing baseball against Gus and Jeff was there. Big Mac kind of got distracted on the on deck circle because Jeff was in the crowd. He's like, hey, Mr. Jeff.

[Martin]

Well, Jim, Jessica have a new. I saw they have a new show or something.

[Hunter]

I just saw that was announced.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

You never know what Jeff and Jessica are doing across.

[Martin]

I really don't know. I really.

[Sigh]

They gotta do something going on.

[Martin]

According to the interwebs, they do. Okay, so go check that out. Yeah, check that out. Whatever.

[Hunter]

Whatever it is.

[Martin]

It's about Texas. About Their Texas stuff. So about their. Their Texas.

[John Luke]

Jeff and Jess beyond the bayou.

[Martin]

There you go.

[John Luke]

Eight part series.

[Martin]

There you go.

[Sigh]

Nice.

[John Luke]

I'll watch it.

[Sigh]

Yeah, I'll watch it.

[John Luke]

Jeff's the nicest one of all of us. That's true.

[Martin]

Is he?

[John Luke]

Name a nicer.

[Martin]

Yeah. Jeff doesn't get many crosswords, so that's what I'm saying.

[John Luke]

He's the nicest one of all of us.

[Martin]

That comes from, I think, an intense case of apathy. Is that the right word? Yeah. Where you don't care. Like, there ain't a lot that stirs Jeff up about life in general. I'm saying, like, as long as he's breathing, he's cool.

[John Luke]

Like if we were to do a tournament of the nicest of anybody ever associated with Duck Commander, Duck Dynasty.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

And it was like, well, you're gonna put Jeff and Stone in a competition? Jeff wins. Jeff and Jason. A competition. Jeff wins.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

He's a nice guy.

[Martin]

Him and Sai gonna duke it out. Unless.

[John Luke]

Who's nicer?

[Martin]

Unless angry Christmas comes out, you or Jeff?

[John Luke]

You are.

[Martin]

Are you nicer or are you more joyful?

[Sigh]

No, I'm nicer as joyful and more joyful. Yeah.

[Martin]

Yeah. I will say you exude joy. I'll give you that part.

[John Luke]

Exudes joy every once in a while.

[Martin]

But every now and then you watch the news and come in here angry. Yeah.

[Sigh]

Don't get me started on that.

[John Luke]

We will not.

[Martin]

We will.

[John Luke]

We will do our best not to talk about.

[Sigh]

You're talking about years here. 2025 is the end of. It's coming.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

And the new year 26 is coming.

[Martin]

Amen.

[Sigh]

You know, and my hope for, you know, the human race is, hey, I sure hope we have a better year in 2026 than we had in 2025.

[Martin]

Yeah. That should always be the whole goal, right?

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Every year gets a little better. Instead of.

[Sigh]

Instead of going the other way.

[Martin]

Instead of going the other way. Yep.

[Sigh]

When are we going to learn to try God's way? Love him first and foremost and then, hey, then go horizontal and love your neighbor.

[Martin]

There you go. Pretty easy, right?

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

Depends on the neighbor.

[Sigh]

At least you could try.

[John Luke]

Given it. My best attempt, actually. Like my neighbors, it's Jeff.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

He's nicest guy now.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[Hunter]

Easy neighbor.

[Sigh]

Because we really don't give a flip.

[Martin]

Yeah. There ain't a whole lot to get you nothing. The only thing that gets you stirred up is stupidity. Well, I will say stupidity gets you, dad.

[Sigh]

Or woman.

[Martin]

Yeah. But that don't get you stirred Up.

[John Luke]

Why anymore?

[Sigh]

I always got a pregnant women in voice. That's what makes life joyful.

[John Luke]

I heard it, too.

[Martin]

What?

[John Luke]

Pregnant?

[Hunter]

Yeah, I know. I was like sometimes, but I think.

[Martin]

He said bring the.

[Hunter]

Yeah, bring the.

[John Luke]

He's always got to bring the women in. Hey, what's your goals?

[Martin]

Do you.

[John Luke]

You don't set goals for the new year, do you? I bet John Luke's a word guy.

[Sigh]

Are you?

[John Luke]

I got a word of the year guy.

[Hunter]

Oh, for sure. Definitely.

[Martin]

Have you picked the one for 26 yet?

[Hunter]

Yeah, I've been thinking about it.

[Martin]

Twins.

[Hunter]

Twins. Everything I'm gonna do in 26.

[Sigh]

Double it.

[Hunter]

I'm gonna double it.

[Sigh]

Double it. I like it.

[John Luke]

I think that's what's got you.

[Sigh]

Say what?

[Martin]

You may want to consider backing down.

[Sigh]

Yeah, no, no.

[Hunter]

Double it.

[Sigh]

Double it.

[John Luke]

I've never been able to do the word for the year thing. Too many words are in my head.

[Martin]

Yeah. How do you pick just one?

[John Luke]

Allison's good at it. It's like her favorite thing. Really? She's gonna have a word for the year?

[Martin]

Yeah. Really? You're gonna take that to her classroom? You think?

[Hunter]

Ah, maybe my word for last year. Let's hear it for 25. Was learn. And you. Yes.

[Sigh]

Learn.

[John Luke]

Let's learn.

[Hunter]

Yeah, you got.

[Sigh]

I like it. There's always more stuff to learn, but.

[John Luke]

You read more than anyone. I know.

[Sigh]

Double it, Jack.

[Hunter]

I know. And I wanted to learn more stuff.

[Sigh]

That's right.

[John Luke]

Because whenever I think of the. That's funny, because whenever I think of you, I think of like, whatever he gets into, he's going to know everything there is to know about it, forwards and backwards.

[Hunter]

I got my YouTube wrapped. They did that thing.

[Sigh]

Oh, yeah.

[Hunter]

And I had listened to A thousand and sixty eight different YouTube channels in the past year. Different YouTube channels.

[John Luke]

Is there that many?

[Hunter]

I didn't even know I could listen to that. I don't even know how I listened to that many different ones. But my.

[Martin]

Here come the allegations again.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

What was number one?

[Hunter]

Oh, wait.

[John Luke]

I actually want to explore the man that is John Luke right now.

[Hunter]

Okay, here we go.

[John Luke]

Because you're a learned man.

[Martin]

I'm going to have to go look at my YouTube. Mine are going to be all like, I mean, a bunch up. No, but I'm saying, like, the variety is going to be on fixing stuff because, like, yeah, I YouTube a lot of like, you know, how to put your belt back on your lawnmower and, you know, I watch two or three different people do it or something like that. And then you go and like stuff. I don't know how to do that. I'm like, I'm not paying somebody to do this. Like, I possess the ability to do said things.

[Hunter]

That was my number one. Number one and top interest was DIY home projects.

[John Luke]

There it is.

[Hunter]

Number two is leatherworking tutorials.

[John Luke]

Is that a new hobby of yours?

[Hunter]

That's a new hobby.

[Sigh]

That's a good one.

[Hunter]

I haven't actually made anything yet.

[Sigh]

I was thinking that is a good one though.

[John Luke]

Hold on. The thing you spent the second most time on in the entire year, you haven't even tried it yet.

[Hunter]

Haven't tried it.

[John Luke]

He just learned about it.

[Hunter]

That's my word for next year. Make.

[Martin]

Execute.

[Sigh]

Execute. Action.

[Martin]

2025 was learn. 2026 is execution.

[Hunter]

I can only do one thing at a time. One thing a year.

[John Luke]

Oh, that's amazing.

[Sigh]

That's good.

[John Luke]

He said leather work. He like, what have you made?

[Sigh]

Nothing.

[Martin]

Not a thing.

[John Luke]

2026.

[Hunter]

I've watched a lot of videos we got.

[Sigh]

When I do, process begins with learning.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

Then you got to execute.

[John Luke]

Amazing.

[Hunter]

My number three was fantasy book reviews.

[John Luke]

That makes sense.

[Hunter]

And I have read. I think I'm at like 56 books for this year.

[Sigh]

Okay.

[Hunter]

So bookkeep. Most of those being fantasy. Number four is beekeeping basics.

[Sigh]

Okay.

[Hunter]

And number five was 3D printing guides.

[Martin]

You may need to go holler at Jeff.

[Sigh]

3D. 3D printing out.

[Martin]

I think three of the five he's pretty into.

[John Luke]

That all makes a lot of sense for you. Except the leather one. I didn't see that come. Everything else I saw coming.

[Hunter]

Yeah. Well, what was weird was my top.

[Martin]

You.

[Hunter]

My top guy though was ancient history. So that was my other. That was my other thing.

[John Luke]

Ancient history.

[Martin]

And fantasy.

[Hunter]

And fantasy.

[John Luke]

Big Lord of the Rings guy.

[Hunter]

Big Lord of the Rings guy.

[John Luke]

I watched a three minute video this morning where they inserted Ace Ventura into the Lord of the Rings and had a great time. But I'm. I'm not as smart as John Luke. So that's. I'm. I'm more of the low hanging fruit of the Internet kind of fella. It was hilarious. Years of scientific research has led to AG1. You know what we're talking about? It's the daily health drink. It's going to combine your multivitamin, your pre and probiotics, and all that stuff is in one simple scoop. It's the easiest thing you can do. Support your body every day right there in a glass of water every morning.

[Martin]

I.

[John Luke]

And you're going to feel better knowing that behind the scenes, AG1's giving your body a daily little backup because this time of year, everybody's traveling, kids are back in school, whole family's getting together. That immune system is going to be working overtime. And once the holidays hit, too, you're going, you. You ain't eating perfect. I'm not eating perfect. Nobody's eating perfect.

[Sigh]

And it's a stressful time.

[John Luke]

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[Sigh]

They're all good.

[John Luke]

Philip be hammering the berry all the time. But try see which one you like for yourself. They got so many to choose from. If you add add agz, you get that in your nighttime routine. Your sleep scores on your little trackers are going to go out the roof. And AG1 has their best offer ever. If you head to drink ag1.com/duck, you'll get a welcome kit, a morning person hat, a bottle of vitamin D3 plus K2, a AG1 flavor sampler, and you'll get to try their new sleep supplement AGZ for free.

[Martin]

Free, baby.

[John Luke]

Which has been a game changer for my nightly routine. That's drink ag1.com for $126 in free gifts for new subscribers.

[Martin]

I see Hunter over there furiously looking at his YouTube rap. Hunter.

[Sigh]

Hunter.

[Scott]

Do you want a picture of it?

[Martin]

I don't want a picture. I just want to know.

[Scott]

I don't want to say. It's hard to explain, but it left out all the editing tutorials I watch and just said I watch a lot of gaming content.

[Martin]

Where do you find this, by the way?

[Hunter]

It just. It should like show up on the top.

[John Luke]

On the top on YouTube. What's your YouTube rap?

[Martin]

Oh, here we go. My. My recap.

[John Luke]

Oh, I don't want to give mine, but I feel like y' all are.

[Martin]

I mean, mine's going to be a lot of duck hunting.

[John Luke]

Hold on.

[Martin]

Certain of it.

[John Luke]

Did we get to all of hunters competitive gaming, superhero movies and funny game moments. You just watch another people play video games.

[Martin]

Hunter number one construction vehicles in action. That's Whelen and Jackson. That's. That's excavators and road Graders and.

[Sigh]

And earth movers.

[Martin]

All the fun things. Hey, my number one channel was Mark Daniels Jr. Does shout out Mark.

[Sigh]

Then.

[Martin]

Then Wheeler. Yeah. All my buddy. I watch all my buddy stuff. Trying to support my buddies by watching their content.

[John Luke]

This is embarrassing.

[Martin]

In 2025, you showed many different sides of you. Oh, they described me as resourceful. Home repair diy.

[Hunter]

I got that one, too.

[Martin]

Yeah. Outdoorsy. You don't say.

[Hunter]

Nice.

[Martin]

Tech savvy. That is a lie.

[Hunter]

Well, yeah. If you were looking up stuff. Yeah, you wouldn't be tech savvy.

[Martin]

Night vision scopes. I didn't look up night vision scopes. Did a tech product reviews. I have done that. I do look up new. You match nicely with one personality type. Okay. The adventure. You're drawn to content that takes you on an exciting journey. All right, folks. Hello@duck call room.com. i want to know.

[John Luke]

You want to know what other people are watching?

[Martin]

Yeah. Well, I want to know, like, the. The one word things. Like the resourceful. Yeah, y.

[Sigh]

Like, I'll go through them.

[John Luke]

I'm embarrassed, by the way.

[Martin]

Oh, that's a big one. I'm surprised that's not one. That's more. Yeah, I watch an uncomfortable amount of live storm chases when it's tornado season.

[John Luke]

That's weird.

[Martin]

I do.

[Scott]

I love.

[Martin]

I love watching somebody who's brave enough to drive their vehicle into a tornado. I'm certainly not, so I find that stuff fascinating. Most likely to fix anything with a wrench and a smile.

[John Luke]

I'm not getting any of those nice things said about me.

[Martin]

What are yours then, friend?

[John Luke]

Well, sadly, number four is duck call room, and I don't even watch it.

[Martin]

You slide in a live chat like.

[John Luke]

I do every once in a while, but I don't watch a lot of YouTube. Ryan Trahan, he took over the number one spot from this summer. And then it's all how to do Disney World correctly so you don't get beat by the nerds that don't know how to do it. Pretty much all I did on YouTube.

[Martin]

Well, you had a big Disney trip, so that makes sense.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Everybody spent a lot of time researching.

[John Luke]

You can't.

[Hunter]

Is your word Disney adult?

[John Luke]

No, not a Disney adult. But I am the greatest dad in the world when we get there, because them other dads don't know what's going on.

[Martin]

I'm like, yeah, I'm only going when the boys get old enough. We're all going together. I'm just going to tell them, I follow you.

[John Luke]

I got you. I almost hurt my in laws this year. I made them walk too much.

[Martin]

There you go.

[John Luke]

Like you. We did too much. I said, no, we didn't.

[Martin]

No, we didn't do enough.

[John Luke]

Too much.

[Martin]

You know where we.

[Sigh]

You know where we can.

[John Luke]

I tried to sit down.

[Martin]

Yeah, we've prepaid for 95 of this. We're about to get our money's worth.

[John Luke]

And then Mark Rober. My kids take over my YouTube pretty much.

[Martin]

Yeah. Same.

[John Luke]

I'm a little worried that the duck call room was number four because Carter was just watching himself over and over again.

[Martin]

Oh, now that checks out.

[Hunter]

You gotta up those numbers, though.

[John Luke]

He watched the other night when I was on and he made a joke on there and he goes, oh, man, that was good. I said, don't say that.

[Martin]

He's giving himself problems.

[John Luke]

When you got it, you got it.

[Martin]

Yeah. I am not surprised that number one.

[John Luke]

Was Construction Vehicles, Though my Spotify wrapped was the weird one.

[Martin]

Spotify. Oh, I only music I listen. My top artist was Matthew west because I cannot get in my truck with my kids without listening to Unashamed, so we listen to him a lot. You're welcome if that made you any money, Matthew. I don't know if it does or not, but my kids, they. They love the song Unashamed, so. And still do. Haven't. Haven't grown weary of that one yet and haven't found a new one.

[John Luke]

I think I lost my. I wanted to read off my top five genres because I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in America that had Christian. Hip hop.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

Worship music. Somehow country snuck in there. And then musicals, musical.

[Martin]

Oh, Lion King. Yeah.

[John Luke]

I was the only person that got those five.

[Martin]

Yeah. Hunter.

[John Luke]

Oh, we don't even want to know.

[Martin]

I do want to know what genres they put Hunter in.

[John Luke]

Punk rock.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[Scott]

Yeah. No, it was embarrassing. It was. It was like punk rock, alternative, hardcore. And then at the very bottom it said rap, which I didn't even think I listened to that much rap.

[Martin]

You did just say you've listened to. Well, where do you put Black Eyed Peas is not rap. Oh, I don't know pop, is it?

[John Luke]

Yeah, it's like.

[Sigh]

No.

[Scott]

Sigh. What is your Spotify or YouTube rap.

[John Luke]

Look like size lost. We've lost music.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[Martin]

He's really close to taking a second rap ever on here.

[Sigh]

Wide berth in music.

[Martin]

Yeah, he'll listen. I like it all, but he'll mostly 70s and 80s country or funk.

[Sigh]

Hey.

[John Luke]

But I will say, you know how those people send it in and they're like in the top 0.1% of the duck call room. Yeah, I was that four for Indie Tribe. And then they literally put it out there I was. I listened to more than. Only 255 people got me beat. No big deal. If you're listening and I doubt it, you're welcome. And let me know if you're ever in town.

[Martin]

What is Indie Tribe?

[John Luke]

Christian hip hop.

[Martin]

Oh, okay. Yeah. I didn't know.

[John Luke]

Bring out your Bible hop in the pit and start a revival. It's good jump rope of music, man.

[Martin]

Is that like the little kids?

[Hunter]

Yeah, I was in your jump rope playlist.

[John Luke]

Oh, it's all Christian hip hop. Andy Mineo, Lecrae, Indy Tribe.

[Sigh]

No big deal. All of them.

[Martin]

We need to show side of that kid. I sent you on Instagram.

[John Luke]

Did you send me on Instagram?

[Martin]

The little young Christian hip hop guy who help.

[John Luke]

I just remember that now we don't have to say that. And we even show him that.

[Martin]

I don't know, we can show him in a break. We may not can show him on. Yeah.

[Hunter]

Okay, wait. I said my word for the year.

[Martin]

I don't have. I've never done this.

[Hunter]

Okay.

[John Luke]

One year, my. My friend of mine had the best New Year's resolution ever.

[Martin]

What?

[John Luke]

And I copied it. No new vices.

[Martin]

Yeah. Just stick with your old ones.

[John Luke]

Stick with the old ones. Don't. Don't pick up anything that you haven't started yet.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

No new bad habits, huh?

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

Keep the bad habits all in line.

[Martin]

Yeah. Keep them under. Keep the ones you got under control.

[John Luke]

Drinking too many Cokes. Don't add something else to that.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

I don't really have any that I haven't thought about it. I've been kind of. I don't know what I'm going to try and do in 2026.

[Hunter]

Okay. Here's some other things I think I do to think about this.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[Hunter]

Because I do all. I do all of it.

[John Luke]

Yeah.

[Hunter]

Word resolutions.

[John Luke]

You probably write them down and everything.

[Hunter]

I got like a notebook. I got like a calendar. I got like its own calendar in there. Yeah. Like all the things. So here's the. You think about. Here's. Here's a question I ask myself. This is a birthday question about. Give it to y' all for New Year's. What is something that you are going to leave behind in 25? And what's something that you're going to take with you? So, like, what's something that you were doing or something about something. It could be like your personality or about, you know, something physical that you're going to leave. And then what's something you learned this past year that you're like, I'm gonna focus on that in the next year, Implement that, implement that. And then that you can kind of take that to like, be your word.

[John Luke]

Ah, John Luke is officially the deepest member of the duck call room. Right then the deepest question.

[Martin]

We have to be fair, we're a pretty shallow pool.

[John Luke]

So.

[Martin]

Yeah, I mean, I am gonna make a healthy attempt to, to leave Copenhagen in 2025.

[John Luke]

You're going to do it?

[Martin]

I'm going to make a healthy attempt as I'm doing right now with these little pouches in my mouth, which I must say are not as fulfilling when you've been doing this for, let's call it 25 years. Let's, let's, let's call it 25 years.

[John Luke]

That math doesn't check out to the legality standard, sir.

[Martin]

Yeah, we're in West Monroe, you know where.

[John Luke]

Well, sigh.

[Sigh]

Did you.

[John Luke]

You quit smoking? Was that a New Year's resolution or was that a.

[Martin]

No, no, that was an interesting living.

[Sigh]

Yeah, I was medical.

[Martin]

Yeah, that was post bypass. This 80 degree weather last week in December sure was nice. Even some of the trees went ahead and budded. I don't know how good that's going to do for them, but if yours didn't and you're looking to plant something new right now is the time with our friends at Fast Growing Trees. And did you know that many plants and trees actually do better when planted this time of year? But you got to know where to start. And you know who can teach you how to start. AskGrowingTrees.com here in Zone 8.

[John Luke]

Because all you got to do is type in your zip code, tell you what zone you're in, tell you what will grow.

[Martin]

There you go. Doesn't matter if you live in the sunny south or if the air is getting chilly, their plant experts can help you find the perfect fit for your space. They've got over 6,000 plants to fit any space. So whether you're looking for fruit and trees like we've done with the boys in the past with limes and lemons and persimmons and, and all the things that you go pick from or maybe, you know, you, your daughter just had twins and you want to get her a nice indoor plant to take care of things when you get home, that'd be something, wouldn't it? Because all you got to do is order online and your plants come right to your door from fast growing trees in just a few days with all the care instructions you need. Their in house plant experts are a game changer. Even if your plants don't usually make it through a season, they've got you. They help you find the best American grown plants to thrive in your space and with their alive and thrive guarantee, you know those plants are getting there happy and healthy. So this season they have the best deals for your yard including up to half off tons of plants and other deals and listeners to our show. Get 15 off your next purchase when using the Code duck at checkout. That's 15 off your next purchase at fast growingtrees.com using the code Duck at checkout. Now's the perfect time to plant use duck to save today. Offers valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. Check out the link below or in the show notes and subscribe Our show.

[Sigh]

John looked like me in a lot of ways. He's always thinking about, like what I'm going to leave behind is I want to get better at being a human being and especially when I'm with someone else that I just met.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

Try to improve me first. Try to improve myself and then when I go out and meet somebody, try to help him improve himself or herself.

[Hunter]

Yeah, that's good.

[Sigh]

You know, because I was, you know, here lately I've been talking about, on podcast about life. Okay. Because our constitution says I got to give them a right for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Well, that's just three words. But that's a lot. It's profound when you really get into it, especially if you're unselfish and looking at others about how can I help them have a better life.

[Hunter]

So your word might be mentor.

[Sigh]

Oh, yeah.

[Martin]

Oh yeah.

[Sigh]

It's just one of them things that, like you said, that would be a good goal. What part of your life that you would call trash you want to leave behind and then looking forward, what do you want to pick up and put in your life that is helpful for not only you but those around you, you that you come in contact. Yeah. It's a really, it's a really good goal.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

To shoot for. Yeah. Because everybody, you know, I said it. Y' all laugh when I say it. But life is rough and sucks a lot.

[Martin]

It does. And there's periods there. Definitely. They're definitely periods that.

[Sigh]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Martin]

Worse than others.

[Sigh]

Well, I would say cycles.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[Martin]

It's very ice.

[Sigh]

Always. It's always circling back.

[Martin]

Yeah. The peak you get out of a.

[Sigh]

Rut and then next thing you know you back in the stupid thing.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

You know, and you're saying, wait a minute. How did I get here? Yeah, this sucks, and I don't like it. And I don't know. I really don't understand how I went from this to back in the stupid rut again.

[Martin]

Yeah. And that was one of my goals, like, for this hunting season was to make duck hunting fun again. Like, because we've done it for a job for so long that you forget to have fun while you're doing it. Yeah. You forget to have fun.

[Sigh]

There's no joy in what you're doing anymore.

[Martin]

And anymore. Like, even this year, I've made it a point, like, for the first 20, 30, 40 minutes of the morning, to not even worry about my shotgun. Like, to just sit there and watch and just take it all in and watch ducks be. And who cares if we get them on camera or not? Like, you know, just have fun doing it again.

[Sigh]

That's what most people don't understand. You can go through life that's like. That's like, okay, when you ask, are you a Christian? Well, I consider myself one. But are you really a Christian? You know, not only do you talk to talk, but do you walk the walk? You know, because I know people that went to church all their life and they hadn't got a relationship with Jesus. They don't even know Him. Yo. And when you look at that and you say, wait a minute, what did you just say? Well, I. Yeah, I. That I was like that in my own life. I mean, we was always there whenever the doors were open, but I didn't really have a close relationship with Jesus till I got older. Now I was. I was there, but I wasn't involved. Yeah. So just because you say, okay, well, I show up all the time, that don't mean nothing. When you show up, are you involved in the process of what is going on?

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

And that's what people. If hunting. If all it was to hunting was pulling the trigger, I would sell every gun I got at the house. And folks, I got a bunch of them. Okay. And would never go again. It's not about the hunt. It's about who you're with when you're hunting.

[Martin]

Absolutely.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[Martin]

That's what's made it fun again, too. I've had, like five people already this year shoot their first one, and it's been like, here's. There you go.

[Sigh]

Here's a news flash for you. Alert. The most important thing that will happen with you is, hey, who do you have a relationship with? Because, hey, that goes from mom and dad to neighbors to brothers, all that. The most important thing in your life is. Is a relationship. How many do you have and who are they with?

[Martin]

You know, every time.

[Sigh]

What importance do you place on that?

[Martin]

Every time. I think we're not talented. We just went from the Black Eyed Peas to this. Hey, you know, we got it, man. We got.

[Hunter]

Got something.

[John Luke]

We got something.

[Sigh]

Well, what do you got? Hey, life is too short, number one.

[John Luke]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

Okay. And if you don't pay attention, you won't be involved with it and you won't be in enjoying it.

[Martin]

Yeah. Amen. Now you get. You get caught up in it and you worry about the.

[Sigh]

Yeah, you. You let the world.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

You're. You're like a stupid. One of them things that the wind.

[Martin]

Blows a windmill.

[Sigh]

They actually grow. But then when they die.

[John Luke]

Dandelion.

[Sigh]

Huh?

[John Luke]

Dandelion.

[Sigh]

I don't know. It's like a weed. A giant tumbleweed.

[Hunter]

Like a tumbleweed?

[Sigh]

Yeah, tumbleweed. You're like a tumbleweed. You're just here and being blown from here to there, back, whatever. And you ain't. You ain't got no roots, no direction or no goal in your life. You're just being tossed to and fro. Like a tumbleweed.

[John Luke]

Yeah, like a tumbleweed.

[Sigh]

You're not involved in your life. Okay. With. With trying to say, okay, hey, I need to go a different direction now. Most people don't understand about religion. Religion is. Is one thing. Hey. You're going one direction, and it sucks. Well, hey, wake up, dummy. Turn around, stop and change directions. Go another way.

[John Luke]

I believe Peter said, repent.

[Sigh]

Yeah. Try something different.

[John Luke]

Means the same thing.

[Sigh]

No.

[Scott]

I love it.

[John Luke]

That is interesting.

[Sigh]

Yo, life is not. Yo. It's. It's, you know, it's profound in so many ways, but it's so simple in so many other ways. So, hey, my challenge to you is, hey, try to take the easy way instead of fighting.

[Martin]

Yeah. Be like water.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Take the path of least.

[Sigh]

Change direction. Stop what you're doing. You don't like it, it sucks. Change direction, for crying out loud. Change what you're doing. You know, insanity, the definition of insanity is you keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. Ain't gonna happen.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

You've got to stop what you're doing and change and go another direction.

[Martin]

Go get the new teeth.

[John Luke]

Go get some new teeth. At 77 years?

[Martin]

Yeah. Heck, yeah, man. Do all that stuff.

[John Luke]

I need to brush my teeth more in 2026. My dentist told me that.

[Martin]

Hey, that's a Big step up, you go to the dentist.

[John Luke]

He told me that three years ago.

[Sigh]

I'll give you an example. I got a fan letter in the mail and this kid asked me a bunch of questions. One of them was, okay, how do you get wisdom? Is it a gift? Do you earn it?

[John Luke]

Do you learn it?

[Sigh]

No, do you learn it?

[Martin]

Do you YouTube it?

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

And here's what I wrote down. I hadn't mailed it yet. I said, well, I said, you get wisdom by what you experience in life as you go along. And then at the bottom of it, I said, okay. So that means you actually. Okay, it can be a gift, considered a gift. But I said, if you learn it through experience, then you earn it because you actually have to go through that to learn what you picked up.

[John Luke]

It's very interesting.

[Sigh]

So it's both ways. God gives you some things, okay, but some things you have to earn it. And everybody says it. And it's a phrase. Experience is the best teacher.

[John Luke]

I'm tired of experiencing things though, okay?

[Sigh]

Because hey, you had to give up something or you had to gain something to actually get the that or you had to go through something to actually receive that. So in a way, you know, life's the best teacher.

[Martin]

There you go, 2026 wisdom.

[Sigh]

Because you actually wisdom, you actually would do it. No, because really, when you think about what makes John Luke the one, we know your experiences in life, they make you stronger, they make you better. Because next time, okay, I've went through that. So, hey, I know how to handle it and I know how to avoid all the pitfalls in it.

[John Luke]

What a year it's been.

[Martin]

That's what I'm talking about. And now our friends over at My Pillow are saying a big thank you to our listeners with yet another sale. The MyPillow after Christmas sale is live now. Shop right now for the best prices. When you use promo code at checkout, get the geese sheets for as low as 29.98. You can get blankets, comforters and duvets for as low as 25. A six pack towel set for only 39.98. And I'm talking about the whole place is on sale. Dog beds, socks. They got socks, they got socks, they got socks. Couch pillows and so much more.

[John Luke]

They got you covered.

[Martin]

My pillows got you. So whether it's bed sheets, slippers, robes, towels, pillows, you name it, the great indoors just got a lot better and a lot cheaper.

[John Luke]

I had my slippers on this morning.

[Martin]

So it's kind of cold out there. You on that heavy Robe now.

[Sigh]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Martin]

Huh?

[John Luke]

And you probably just got some money from your grandma for Christmas, so go get yourself something.

[Martin]

There you go yourself to the gift you didn't get. You heard it here first.

[John Luke]

Treat yourself.

[Martin]

Look, to get the best Specials, go to MyPillow.com or call 1-800-969-3137 and use the promo code. These offers won't last long, so visit MyPillow.com or call 1-800-969-3137 and use promo code. Don't wait, do it today.

[Hunter]

I would say wisdom, though, is the searching for that knowledge or learning in from those experiences. Because some people experience the things, but they don't learn anything.

[Martin]

They don't learn a damn good.

[Sigh]

And don't learn from.

[Hunter]

Yeah, no.

[Sigh]

And that's sad. Yeah, that's sad.

[Martin]

Yeah, I get to watch that. And a couple of three year olds.

[John Luke]

Every day, they don't learn much.

[Martin]

Yeah, they're just. They just keep doing the same thing. I'm like, well, yeah, you hit your head right there. It hurts, buddy.

[Sigh]

That's the parent. That's the parent thing. Oh, hey, don't touch that. Well, you didn't tell them. Why? You didn't say don't touch it. Well, they didn't listen.

[Martin]

Yeah, we had a phone the other night, I told Waylon, don't slam that toilet seat down. He did it. You can imagine at a three year old what may be at that level when you hand. Nope. Yep.

[Sigh]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. The best one on this, he ain't.

[John Luke]

Gonna do that again.

[Sigh]

The best one I've got here.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

Is my grandsons, Wyatt.

[John Luke]

Oh, boy, here we go.

[Sigh]

Okay. He's climbing up and throwing Christine's treasures and busted him. Well, I go in there, grab him, pull him down, whoop his butt, tell him no. Okay. Well, hey, he does it three more times and I grab him, pull him down, whoop his butt again. Well, finally mom has had enough. She comes in and said, wyatt, she said, you know that hard head you got? That's your grandfather. Yeah, that's where that came from. You're not going to win with him.

[John Luke]

Give up now.

[Sigh]

Yeah, give up now. Because hey, every time you do that, he's fixed to come in there, yank you down and tear your butt up.

[Martin]

Surrender.

[Sigh]

Yeah, surrender and give up now. And ask one of them deals. Hey, what you're doing? And change my word.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[Sigh]

It is only going to be you, aim.

[Martin]

Oh, man, it is fun. A new year is always fun, man. It offers You.

[Sigh]

Well, hey and hey on that. Hey. Have a good Christmas. And then we're looking forward to having a even better New Year. So Merry Christmas Day 1, and Happy New Year.

[Martin]

All things good.

[John Luke]

John Luke's gonna come up with a word for all of us. John Luke, can you just give me a word? I'm not gonna be able to pick one.

[Hunter]

I can't just give it to you.

[John Luke]

You gotta give it to me.

[Martin]

Yeah, this would be fun.

[John Luke]

I think it'd be fun.

[Martin]

Just the first word that comes to mind when you see him.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

But start with Martin in case you're new.

[Martin]

I don't mind, actually.

[John Luke]

Do Hunter first.

[Hunter]

Yeah. You should just ask Jet for a word. He'll give a nicer one.

[John Luke]

Jeb, be like, just chill, man.

[Martin]

Relax.

[John Luke]

I like it.

[Martin]

I worry for 2026.

[Hunter]

Relax, relax.

[Sigh]

Oh, man.

[Martin]

Yeah. I don't know.

[John Luke]

I haven't even thought about the new year. Well, I'm just here, get out of 2020. I'm kind of circling the wagons and resetting everything in 2026.

[Martin]

That's good.

[Hunter]

That's your word.

[Martin]

What's up?

[Hunter]

Reset.

[Martin]

Yeah, reset.

[John Luke]

John looks good at this.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

Look, you've done this before. Every time I'm sitting there like I don't have a good word. John Luke votes. That legitimately might be it. Because I had a lot of good ideas in 2025 that the good Lord vetoed.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

And also, I don't want to be a pallbearer this year. So if we're anywhere near close.

[Hunter]

Don'T.

[John Luke]

You go dying on me. It's another goal of mine for 2026.

[Martin]

Keep everybody.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

I want to stay on this life. Kick that size home.

[Martin]

Yeah, Keep. Keep everybody. Everybody in the club, man. Yeah.

[John Luke]

20, 20, 26. Who knows?

[Martin]

It's going to be fun, man.

[John Luke]

Be the honey holes year.

[Martin]

It's going to be fun. Oh, it's all our year. Just, you know, got. What is the year going to be? Because, I mean, in essence, it feels good to turn the page on the calendar, but that doesn't change a dead gum thing. Like, you know, I mean, it just. It does you.

[John Luke]

You know, I got to tell you something real fast. You know, if you turn the page on the calendar, it just ends, Right. You got a new one.

[Martin]

Oh. Now if you got one of them digital ones, you just go wipe it.

[Hunter]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Which is what we had to do.

[John Luke]

Hunter laughed entirely too hard at that terrible joke. And that's why I love you.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

Because I thought. Okay, thank you.

[Martin]

Well, a lot of Times. That back page shows 2026 in the small print, but yeah.

[John Luke]

On your phone.

[Martin]

No.

[John Luke]

You know, I don't have a calendar anymore.

[Martin]

Really?

[John Luke]

For five years?

[Martin]

Hey, there's no little.

[John Luke]

The day Willie stopped texting me about what he had to do, like, four months after I stopped working for him, I said, I'm not looking at a calendar again.

[Martin]

Yeah, why do I need that? We back to traveling a ton, so I have to keep up with all that mess, like, for childcare.

[John Luke]

I actually had a phone call meeting the other day. Didn't know it till it was 15 minutes too late. My bad, guys. I don't really have a calendar.

[Hunter]

They'll usually text. You ready for that call?

[Martin]

Yep. Are you gonna call up?

[John Luke]

We're on that. When you're ready.

[Martin]

My favorite. You know, you're late. Do you want me to call you, or are you calling me? Oh, yeah, about that.

[Hunter]

Absolutely. Yeah, you call me.

[Martin]

Whoops. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry.

[Hunter]

Oh, yeah, I'm calling you.

[Martin]

Yeah. Yeah. It didn't come through. Kept going straight to voicemail. Oh, well, that's fine.

[John Luke]

Man, I am gonna. Oh, wait. I. I got another thing in 2025 I can share.

[Martin]

What?

[John Luke]

You know how I'm on the I'm the 10,000 steps a day kind of.

[Martin]

You do it.

[John Luke]

No.

[Martin]

You missed one.

[John Luke]

I missed one, and I haven't shared that. Oh, yes. What day? I guess there's one day in the last two years I didn't get 10,000 steps, even if I was, like, ill. I went and trudged around. Guess what day I missed it, sir?

[Martin]

Thanksgiving.

[John Luke]

No, the day Sal was in the hospital. My grandmother wasn't doing good either, and I went home, thought I had it, sat down and just sat there and pondered life for a couple hours. Walked, got in bed, woke up the next morning, I was at 9,000, 735. So now I got to stop worrying about it.

[Martin]

Man, that's crazy.

[John Luke]

That was that day. I was like.

[Martin]

It felt like 10,000. From where they make you park at St. Francis now.

[John Luke]

That was the day. That was the next day.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

We didn't go see him. We just found out he was in the hospital. I was all sad. I was like, 2025's gotta stop.

[Martin]

Yeah. Because it feels like the walk at that hospital now gets you. Get you in a halfway before you even. Before it even matters. I mean.

[John Luke]

But we're continuing the streak in 2026.

[Martin]

There you go.

[John Luke]

That's just a minor thing.

[Martin]

I start it back over. Well, I'm still Yeah.

[Hunter]

Reset that.

[John Luke]

Somebody joined me. I'm like on 70 something days now, but it was like 500 something.

[Martin]

Yeah, that's cool.

[John Luke]

And I lost it.

[Martin]

I'm still three years with no soda.

[John Luke]

That's good.

[Martin]

I'm worried that one day that's going to break and I don't know what's going to happen to me if I.

[John Luke]

Coke Zeros, the nectar of Father above. I think when we get to heaven, there'll be a Coke Zero machine. It's so good. Have you had a Dr. Pepper Zero? That's your thing, isn't it?

[Martin]

Yeah. No.

[John Luke]

You got to try.

[Martin]

I don't want to open that. Feels like a gateway drug. It feels like. That feels like a path to me. Just like. I think avoidance is just the. The only way to do it.

[John Luke]

All right. I just got my goal for the.

[Martin]

You don't have any of it. What is to get me to drink.

[John Luke]

Just me and you. Hammer and Dr. Pepper. Oh, this is going to be a bad influence.

[Hunter]

Your word is. Yeah.

[Martin]

I could feel.

[Hunter]

I mean, temptation.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

I'm not going to do that to you, Mark.

[Martin]

Well, give us a verse for 2026. What we got.

[John Luke]

You know what I think.

[Martin]

Or to end 2025 or. Either way, I'm good with it. Either to start one or I actually.

[John Luke]

Got a weird one because Sigh for the past.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

Few episodes have. Has been on a kick.

[Martin]

Life, baby, life.

[John Luke]

If it ain't going great. He keeps saying the word turn around.

[Martin]

Every now and then. I get it.

[John Luke]

Not quite like that. But in Acts 2:37 through 39, Peter is talking and it says, when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, brother, what shall we do? So if you've been hearing sigh, say, hey, if it's not going right, I got a plan for you. Size said in his way. This is how Peter said it. In verse 38, Peter replied, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all who love, for all whom the Lord our God will call.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

So pretend you had a bad 2025. Pretend you had a great 2025. Pretend you want to lose weight. Pretend you want to get steps. Pretend you want to do whatever you want. Only one thing matters.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[John Luke]

And if you're not right with Jesus Christ, repent and be baptized.

[Martin]

There you go. Amen.

[John Luke]

And that will be the greatest New Year's resolution you could ever make. Because then you will have years that you can't even count for eternity in heaven. Wash it away and I'll be there, too. And if you get to heaven and you don't find me there.

[Martin]

Whoops.

[John Luke]

We have gone to hell.

[Martin]

Where are you? Whoops.

[John Luke]

That's another tribe reference.

[Sigh]

Now the question needs to be answered. Where are you?

[Martin]

Whoops. All right, well, we'll see y' all next time in the duck call room. We're out.

[Sigh]

That was a good one.