Why Do Christian Couples Struggle for Peace?
Why do so many Christian couples, who genuinely love God, still find themselves in a chaotic home? Jeff and Teresa dive into this mind-boggling question and uncover a game-changing shift that could transform your marriage and family life. They share their takeaways from a recent Elvis concert movie, emphasizing the King's longing for a simple, loving family life — a desire that resonates with many of us. The duo then lays down five biblical habits to help couples build a joyful Christian home. So, if you’re ready to kick the chaos to the curb and embrace a peaceful family vibe, tune in and let’s get those good vibes rolling! Couples often find themselves in the midst of chaos, trying to keep up with the perfect image of a Christian family while feeling like they’re just going through the motions. We dive deep into this paradox, discussing why loving God doesn't automatically lead to a peaceful home. As we share our thoughts on the pressures to appear 'perfect', we reveal that the secret lies in embracing authenticity over perfection. We reflect on our recent experience watching the Elvis movie, where the King himself longed for a simple family life. This sparks a conversation about the universal desire for home and connection. We explore how hidden pressures can create distance in relationships and the importance of prioritizing emotional connections over societal expectations. In our practical tips, we emphasize the need for regular, meaningful conversations and the power of shared faith to cultivate a joyful, loving environment at home. We wrap up with a challenge to take intentional steps towards rebuilding your relationship, reminding listeners that small habits can lead to profound changes.
Takeaways:
- Many Christian couples struggle to create a joyful home, even if they love God.
- Understanding the shift in mindset can totally transform your marriage and family life.
- Creating a peaceful home involves fostering emotional connection and communication daily.
- Building a joyful Christian home requires daily habits like prayer, encouragement, and meaningful conversations.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- MGM
- Elvis Presley
- The Spirit Marriages YouTube
- Inspiring Marriages
Transcript
Welcome to the Inspiring Marriages podcast with Jeff and Teresa Fields.
Speaker A:We are so glad to have you with us today.
Speaker A:So the question we have for this week is why do so many Christian couples who love God still struggle to create a peaceful, joyful home?
Speaker A:The answer might surprise you, but once you understand this one shift, it can completely change the atmosphere of your marriage and your family.
Speaker A:So recently, Teresa and I went and saw the Elvis movie Epic Elvis Presley in concert.
Speaker A:And did you enjoy the movie?
Speaker B:Yes, I enjoyed it very much.
Speaker A:Now, neither one of us were big Elvis fans, but we saw Elvis in a way that I guess we'd never seen him before.
Speaker A:It was really concentrating on his Vegas residency in like 69, maybe 70.
Speaker A:And it was, it was quite the show.
Speaker A:It was, he was quite the show.
Speaker A:He was at the peak, probably the peak of his concert life, I guess, music career over.
Speaker A:Over 600 sellout shows at, in Las Vegas, at the, the hotel.
Speaker A:He was in Vegas, six, well over 600 straight sellouts.
Speaker A:And he, he put on the show.
Speaker A:He did put on the show, but in the movie, he's the narrator of the movie.
Speaker A:Because they had found, the producer of the, of the movie had found these boxes in Kansas in the salt mines were MGM keeps all their film to keep them from deteriorating.
Speaker A:And they found like over 50 boxes of film and they found this audio tape.
Speaker A:It's like 40 or 50 minutes of audio tape where Elvis is just talking.
Speaker A:And they use that as the really the soundtrack of the movie.
Speaker A:There's no people talking.
Speaker A:Know, usually in documentaries people are talking about somebody or they're talking, but it's just Elvis talking along with his music.
Speaker A:And you see his rehearsals and we see the concerts and there's not a lot of people talking.
Speaker A:But in one of the, in the times in the movie Elvis was talking about and his desire to just have a normal family life where he'd go home to his wife and, and children.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And no.
Speaker A:And we know that things did not end well with him and we know that he, he had one child, Lisa Marie, and not long after that, this was in 69, 70, 77, 78 is when.
Speaker A:When he died.
Speaker A:So we didn't live that much longer, longer after that that movie and his health really deteriorated from, from abuse.
Speaker A:But that, that struck me that really what he wanted was a simple family life where someone he'd go to and someplace where his love.
Speaker A:Loved ones were.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:Because he really didn't have that growing up as a child.
Speaker B:So that's something he knew that he had missed and longed for, which everyone really does.
Speaker A:Right in the deep of every heart, of every person is the desire to come home, to peace, to love, and to a family that feels whole.
Speaker A:So this week on The Spirit Marriages YouTube channel, we have three videos that we explore this.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So the first one that we, that we did was why so many Christian families feel broken today.
Speaker A:And how to rebuild yours is how, how we framed it and that's right.
Speaker A:And we talked about the hidden pressure in Christian homes that there's so much pressure for.
Speaker A:To present a fake facade or a fake image to have the perfect quote Christian family, unquote.
Speaker A:You know, they try to do everything right to go to church, raise their kids well, to be good spouses.
Speaker A:But emotionally they still might feel distant from each other.
Speaker B:Mm.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And, and I remember emphasizing on there that that really causes the distance when the two people, even together, they're trying to create this image or project this image.
Speaker B:It's just too much pressure.
Speaker B:It's too much perfectionism.
Speaker B:May not even realize we're doing it, trying to show people, well, we're the, you know, the Christian family that doesn't have problems or we're the marriage that, where we always get along and our, our kids are so obedient.
Speaker B:You know, you don't want anyone to know if something's been going wrong.
Speaker B:That's just too much pressure and it's, it's not real.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And we want to talk about the difference between a relation religion and connection or between religion and relationship.
Speaker A:And we all know that Christianity is not a religion.
Speaker A:It's more about a relationship with a very loving father.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So that's a huge difference.
Speaker A:Being in a religious home with rules, things are run more by rule based than a faith centered home.
Speaker A:Not that, you know, of course we expect our children to behave.
Speaker A:I mean there's.
Speaker A:But we don't determine our relationship to them is not based on how well they follow our rules.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Keep all the rules and don't break any rules.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So a religious home really focuses on the rules and routines.
Speaker A:And you see the people out of that are outside of Christianity.
Speaker A:They, they judge all religions by can you do this, can that do that?
Speaker A:You know, what can you do?
Speaker A:What can't you do?
Speaker A:Which is not really what Christianity is about.
Speaker A:Christianity is love your neighbor.
Speaker A:Ask yourself.
Speaker A:No, love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Speaker A:Really, if you follow those two rules, everything else just falls into place.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:But a faith center home lifestyle more than rules.
Speaker A:It's more of a lifestyle and your heart.
Speaker A:So a faith center home focus more on the love, the grace, the connection or relationship and spiritual unity.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:That's really was.
Speaker A:It's not about a bunch of rules and regulations.
Speaker B:Mm.
Speaker B:Because God's love doesn't change whether we are keeping all the rules or not.
Speaker B:And that's what children need.
Speaker B:That's what your spouse needs.
Speaker B:You're loved.
Speaker B:Even if you don't do everything right.
Speaker B:You know, love doesn't change.
Speaker A:Very good.
Speaker A:And if you feel like more like roommates today than best friends, go to our website inspiringmarriages.net and you on there.
Speaker A:You can just keep in touch section and you can sign up for a be on a mailing list.
Speaker A:And one of the things you can get is our seven day devotional called From Lonely to Best Friends Again.
Speaker A:And you can have that PDF today.
Speaker A:It has scriptures, it has a discussion, it has questions.
Speaker A:Discussion questions.
Speaker A:So it's right.
Speaker A:It's really good.
Speaker A:It walks couples through daily simple steps that we build emotional and spiritual connection.
Speaker A:Now what's really important for a Christian couple is the small daily habits that rebuild relationship.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Strong families are rarely built on through big dramatic moments.
Speaker A:They're built through small daily habits of connection.
Speaker A:Praying together daily.
Speaker A:Our friendship builder, one on one, 101 first one.
Speaker A:Is praying together really taking the time to connect every day and to pray, use encouraging words to each other, build each other up and have intentional conversations where the phones are down, right.
Speaker A:The TV's off and you're looking into each other's eyes and you're talking.
Speaker A:Intentional conversation.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:It's way more than managing.
Speaker A:If, if your conversations are just all based on schedules and what in the calendar, really all you're doing is managing your household, manage your marriage when you want you to be flourishing and connected.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:That's not really connection.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:And it's not really enjoying the relationships you have in the household and marriage, the parents and children.
Speaker B:You have to have those conversations around the table that fun times together, just like we talk about with marriage.
Speaker B:Have fun times with your children.
Speaker B:It can't be all working and no play.
Speaker B:You have to have some fun times together.
Speaker B:And you know, it comes to mind that reading to children at night, like before bedtime, the amazing benefits for that, that could be, you know, episodes in itself.
Speaker B:But it's, it's definitely proven that that helps children not just calm down to go to sleep.
Speaker B:But that connection with one or both parents having devotion or something reading time, something read to them in the evenings, that's just such a great connection time.
Speaker A:And we really want to talk about the importance of spiritual growth together.
Speaker A:The strongest Christian homes are not led by just one person, spiritually understood.
Speaker A:The husband and the father needs to be the spiritual head showing a good example.
Speaker A:But everyone should be growing.
Speaker A:It's just not just the father growing.
Speaker A:It's just not the mother growing.
Speaker A:They're all growing.
Speaker A:We grow, the family grows when the couple grows.
Speaker A:Walk with God together.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:And showing a good example and going to church together, worshiping together, serving together, that is growing together spiritually.
Speaker B:And the wife really reinforces what the.
Speaker B:The father is teaching or demonstrating or talking to the children about.
Speaker B:The wife can reinforce that when she has her own time with the kids, whether it's homeschooling or she's looking after them when they come home from school and the father's not home yet.
Speaker B:She can always help shape their character.
Speaker B:And, well, this is what, you know, your dad says, and this is what we're going to do, and, you know, help the children to live that out.
Speaker B:It's so good that you.
Speaker B:You're supporting each other in that role of spiritual leaders.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:And we want to talk about the importance of creating a joyful family habits.
Speaker A:So joy in the home, it grows with habits like praying together, husband and wife praying together, sharing gratitude, just expressing gratitude to each other, having spins, spending intentional time together, speaking encouragement over each other and to each other.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And the kids see what's going on in your relationship, Even if you think, well, they only see the good part and they don't see the bad or whatever.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:They do realize when there's tension in the home or if you're not encouraging each other, they might see you talking hurtfully to each other negatively.
Speaker B:And that affects children.
Speaker B:It really does.
Speaker B:Whether they're saying anything about or not, it's affecting them.
Speaker B:So these positive things, these spiritual things, they're so powerful to pull the whole family, you know, take.
Speaker B:Take the whole family up, you know, to higher levels and growth and helping everybody grow together.
Speaker A:I love that you just remember what Elvis longed for.
Speaker A:He didn't long for fame or success, but just a peaceful home and a family that loved being together.
Speaker A:And the beautiful thing is that God actually gives us principles to build that kind of life.
Speaker A:So we want to talk about the five biblical habits that create a joyful Christian home.
Speaker A:And again, what Elvis Presley said in the movie is that he remembers really wanted.
Speaker A:What he wanted in life was something simple, a normal family.
Speaker A:And that's exactly what millions of couples all around the world want today.
Speaker A:So we want to talk over five biblical habits to help Christian couples build a joyful home.
Speaker A:Number one, praying together.
Speaker A:We have to pray together.
Speaker A:One of the simplest and most powerful habits Christians can build is praying together.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:And doesn't have to be long.
Speaker A:Even a short prayer can change the spiritual atmosphere of your home.
Speaker A:And let's encourage.
Speaker A:We want to really encourage you pray together.
Speaker B:So I just love the picture you see of like a Norman Rockwell when the whole family is around the Thanksgiving table and they're all bowing their heads and praying together.
Speaker B:That's such a beautiful, timeless thing.
Speaker B:It's not something for ages past.
Speaker B:The Lord wants families to pray together, not just saying thanks for a meal, but praying together about things going on in life, you know, what your kids are dealing with, or just things that your family needs help with from the Lord.
Speaker B:You know, just walking through some things together.
Speaker B:It's very powerful to pray together.
Speaker A:And we cannot overemphasize the second habit.
Speaker A:Speaking encouragement Daily words are incredibly powerful.
Speaker A:The Bible tells us that death and life is in the power of the tongue.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:And so it's really important the words we say.
Speaker A:And some people may not believe that words have any effect, but it really does.
Speaker A:If you say harmful words to a child, you're ugly, you're fat, no one loves you.
Speaker A:That's just incredibly devastating.
Speaker B:Yes, it is.
Speaker A:I mean it.
Speaker A:But even in a Christian marriage, you know, words of criticism, someone not doing something quite right or, or anything, it's just.
Speaker A:That's just.
Speaker A:It can be devastating to the other person.
Speaker A:So we have to really be careful.
Speaker A:The words we use between each other and to each other, who we need to have our home, should be full of encouragement instead of criticism.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Encouragement is so, so powerful.
Speaker B:It can change the whole atmosphere of your home.
Speaker B:It can change a stressful situation into, you know, a time where, okay, we're going to encourage each other.
Speaker B:We're here to help each other.
Speaker B:You're not in this by yourself.
Speaker B:You know, whoever is dealing with a problem and just knowing that someone else is with you is on your side.
Speaker B:You know, that that gives so much hope, so much joy to your spouse, to your children, whoever it is in the home that needs encouragement.
Speaker B:But we all need it.
Speaker B:Everyone needs encouragement.
Speaker B:Longs to hear kind words and words that build you up.
Speaker A:Habit number three, meaningful conversation.
Speaker A:Husbands Your wife has basic needs, and one of those needs is open and meaningful conversation.
Speaker A:She needs to know more about schedules or responsibility.
Speaker A:She needs more than headlines.
Speaker A:She needs details.
Speaker B:Details.
Speaker A:So your marriage will grow.
Speaker A:I guarantee this, your marriage will grow when you have a real conversation with your spouse.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And it may take time to learn how to put your thoughts into words.
Speaker B:The things that you just normally think and make decisions and make plans.
Speaker B:You might be doing that all on your own, in your own head or in your own heart.
Speaker B:But those things need to be shared with your spouse, whether it's the husband that's quiet or the wife that's quiet, or maybe both.
Speaker B:People were used to being very quiet before they got married.
Speaker B:But you have to talk to your spouse about whatever you're thinking, whatever you're feeling, because if not, there's so much that you're not sharing and your spouse doesn't know what you're thinking.
Speaker B:You might think they do, but they really don't.
Speaker B:We have to talk about these things.
Speaker A:An unrealistic expectation is your spouse can read your mind.
Speaker B:You're right.
Speaker A:Habit number four.
Speaker A:We have to practice quick forgiveness.
Speaker A:Now, no person is perfect, so therefore no marriage is perfect.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But a joyful, growing, fulfilling home practices quick forgiveness instead of long resentment.
Speaker A:Joyce Meyer said one time in One for books, when a person says, I'll forgive, but I will not forget, what they're really saying is, I will not forgive.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:So that's right.
Speaker A:Love takes.
Speaker A:Keeps no record of wrong.
Speaker A:Right, Theresa?
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:You need the Lord to show you if you are allowing unforgiveness or resentment to.
Speaker B:To stay in your thoughts and stay in your heart.
Speaker B:Because we might be kidding ourselves and saying, well, I forgave them.
Speaker B:But you really just kind of tried to forget about what happened in a way of just dismissing it.
Speaker B:We'll put it that way.
Speaker B:Just dismissing it and saying, well, they just do that all the time.
Speaker B:No, you really need to forgive if it's something that bothers you or it's hurtful and you're going to have to talk about it eventually.
Speaker B:You know, this really hurt me when you said that, or, you know, I don't like how this sounds.
Speaker B:You know, whatever you have to do to open up that conversation, but forgive quickly, even before you get to talk about it or before your spouse realizes they did something and need to come and say I'm sorry to you, go ahead and forgive.
Speaker B:Because it really prevents resentment from building up.
Speaker A:And the scriptures tell us that holding resentment in our heart hinders our Prayers.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:And number five, we have to have shared faith.
Speaker A:You know, the happiest Christian homes grow when couples pursue faith together.
Speaker A:We need to pray together.
Speaker A:We need to share scriptures together.
Speaker A:Instead of sharing a real or.
Speaker A:Or something, share scripture with each other.
Speaker A:If you're taking the time to send a real.
Speaker A:Take the time to send some scripture and serving others, serving your church, serving your church, serving other charities, serving your community service.
Speaker A:Serve each other.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:Serving one another.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:That's powerful.
Speaker B:It's really powerful.
Speaker B:And shared faith just strengthens your marriage, there's no doubt about it.
Speaker B:It strengthens your marriage, strengthens your home.
Speaker B:It sets a great example for your children, whether they're younger or they're older.
Speaker B:They need to see you walking in faith together.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Our third video this week was, if we had to rebuild our Christian marriage from scratch, we would do this.
Speaker A:And so we wanted to reach out to those who may.
Speaker A:Who are feeling.
Speaker A:Know they're married, but still feeling distant, lonely or disconnected.
Speaker A:So these are the things that we would do if we were starting from scratch to rebuild our connection.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Number one, you got to restore that emotional connection.
Speaker A:Husbands, one of your wives major needs is security.
Speaker A:She needs to know that the relationship is secure.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So you got to rebuild emotional safety.
Speaker A:So both of you, husband or wife, your spouse has to have the freedom to come to you with anything, something, an idea or something they need to share and without fear of being criticized.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Rejected, ridiculed.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So everyone needs to feel heard, understood, respected, and valued.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Teresa, that is so good.
Speaker B:You know, it brings to mind, we see a lot of sitcoms, and all through the story or the program, everybody's cutting each other down, putting each other down, hurting each other's feelings.
Speaker B:And it's like if you look at it, you know, objectively, you say, that's just bizarre.
Speaker B:You know, that's not really funny.
Speaker B:They're hurting each other and saying unkind things and, well, I didn't mean it, you know, but you cannot accept that as normal.
Speaker B:That's not healthy.
Speaker B:That's not normal.
Speaker B:It's especially not in a Christian home.
Speaker B:So we have to be able to express things honestly and share, you know, choose your words carefully.
Speaker B:Sometimes you don't want to just blurt out something and say the wrong.
Speaker B:Say it the wrong way.
Speaker B:But you have to be able to express what you're thinking and feeling, even if it's, hey, we need to look at this, and maybe we need to do something Differently.
Speaker B:This, this isn't working well, or, you know, it's making me not comfortable or making me unhappy.
Speaker B:You know, it's.
Speaker B:We just have to be able to talk about these things, even the littlest things.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And make sure that you're understanding each other and listening well.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Number two, if we were to start from scratch, we would have to restore spiritual connection.
Speaker A:So marriages only grow when couples are connected spiritually.
Speaker A:So maybe you've let it gotten a little lax in your spiritual walk with your spouse, you know, but you can pray together.
Speaker A:One of our main friendship builder ideas is to have daily connection and to pray together.
Speaker A:That is so important to.
Speaker A:For couples to pray together.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:And reading scripture together, that's.
Speaker B:That's so powerful.
Speaker B:You know, having a devotion that you read together or just a daily scripture, like you were saying earlier, you could share a scripture with each other.
Speaker B:This is my favorite scripture.
Speaker B:Or I read this today, and let's talk about this tonight when we see each other, you know, in person.
Speaker A:That's so good.
Speaker A:Now you can have and shared faith discussions.
Speaker A:Maybe you can talk about something that the pastor said on the sermon and.
Speaker A:Or like, like Teresa said, a devotional passage really helps.
Speaker A:There are many devotions that help have questions that will spur conversation.
Speaker A:Those are so valuable.
Speaker A:Number three, you have to have intentional time together.
Speaker A:Connection just doesn't happen.
Speaker A:Happen chance or it just doesn't happen.
Speaker A:You got to do it intentional.
Speaker A:And we, we advocate date nights, regular date nights.
Speaker A:And it doesn't have to be expensive.
Speaker A:It doesn't have to be lavish.
Speaker A:No, you can just turn on some flashlights and have, have dinner in your living room.
Speaker A:No phones, no tv, just conversation.
Speaker A:But it's intentional time.
Speaker B:That's so good.
Speaker B:Yes, I know.
Speaker B:We used to have a lot of talks just sitting in the car before or after a date and just talking and talking.
Speaker B:And it was so nice.
Speaker B:Just we could talk about a lot of things and it was just, you know, a good time to connect.
Speaker B:And that has to be intentional.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I know that when you were dating, you had intentional conversation.
Speaker A:You may even had a phone that was on the wall when it rang.
Speaker A:You didn't know who was on the other end, but you picked it up anyway.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But you would sit and you would talk for hours while you were dating.
Speaker A:I know you did.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So you still need that.
Speaker A:You still need that conversation.
Speaker B:You do.
Speaker B:You need that conversation.
Speaker A:You do not know everything about your spouse.
Speaker B:I guarantee you don't know that's Right.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Number four, we got to replace criticism with encouragement now.
Speaker A:And we, and Teresa, you talked about this in the video.
Speaker A:When you see a picture of erosion, right.
Speaker A:What does it.
Speaker A:What do you see?
Speaker B:It's usually pretty ugly.
Speaker B:I mean, you see this bare land that looks like it's just been stripped of trees and grass, and usually there's ruts in it, you know, going down the side of, you know, wherever the land is eroded and because rain is wearing it away even more, it just looks awful.
Speaker B:It doesn't look like this, you know, something's wrong here.
Speaker B:This doesn't look like it should.
Speaker B:Should be at all.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And that's what criticism does.
Speaker A:It erodes the marriage.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And it's just ugly.
Speaker A:And you see the seaside erosion.
Speaker A:It's just terrible.
Speaker A:But encouragement builds up a marriage.
Speaker B:Yes, it does.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And if there's been criticism, it's going to be a walk of forgiveness and restoration and learning how to speak differently to one another.
Speaker B:Let God give you new patterns of speaking to one another, new ways of thinking about each other.
Speaker B:If there are critical words coming up in your heart and mind, you need to pray and you need to talk to God.
Speaker B:And how can I change what I'm thinking about my spouse?
Speaker B:How can I change how I speak to my spouse and begin learning how to speak words of encouragement.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And number five, if you're.
Speaker A:If we want to start over from scratch, rebuild our connection, we would have to have a shared vision.
Speaker A:Habakkuk2 2 says right?
Speaker A:Division.
Speaker A:Make it plain so the person reading it can run with it.
Speaker B:That's right, Teresa.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:The strongest marriages share a vision for the future.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Maybe it's being debt free.
Speaker A:You have to plan for that.
Speaker A:Maybe it's plans for your children.
Speaker A:Maybe it's a new car or a different car.
Speaker A:Maybe it's a new home.
Speaker A:Maybe it's a renovation for the home.
Speaker A:Maybe it's a giving desire.
Speaker A:In addition to tithing to your church, you may want to tithe an additional amount someplace or two different ministries.
Speaker A:There's other ministries that bless you.
Speaker A:You may want to set your vision for a higher giving.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So just so many different.
Speaker A:Maybe it's a health.
Speaker A:You have a vision for your health.
Speaker B:Oh, yes, that's so important.
Speaker B:And I think about what we learned some years back was having a vision retreat for your marriage.
Speaker B:Sometimes you just have to have a vision for going on a retreat to get vision for your marriage.
Speaker B:Like, where's our marriage headed?
Speaker B:What do we need to grow in, you know, what do we want to see down the road for our marriage.
Speaker B:And you know, like you said, so that when you get in that kind of unity, anything is possible.
Speaker B:But the Lord will show you what you can write down and set your faith for and let him give you the steps to, to see that come to pass.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:The strongest family pursue faith, family and purpose together.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:They really do.
Speaker A:They really do.
Speaker A:And if you would like prayer, you just email us@inspiring marriages t.net and we'll be so honored to pray with you.
Speaker A:And, and again, if you're still listening to this, if you would like any of our PDFs, go to our website, inspiringmarriages.net and there's a keep in touch section and just enter your your email and we'll send you a link that you can agree to be on our mailing list.
Speaker A:And we'll send out those we send out PDFs on a regular basis to everybody on our our mailing list.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:And if you would like our seven day devotional call from Lonely to Best Friends again, just send us an email inspiringmarriagest.net and say we want the seven day devotional.
Speaker A:And you can say lonely and we'll know which one you.
Speaker A:We have several devotionals and that's just pick that one and you can actually have any of them or all of them.
Speaker A:But if you want that one just tells that you want the one from Lonely to Best Friends Again, we'll be glad to send it to you.
Speaker A:And this week we have a challenge for you.
Speaker A:Our challenge for you this week, a friendship builder.
Speaker A:Challenges for you to go on a walk together.
Speaker A:Now, depending upon the time that you're hearing this and what part of the country is or where you are in
Speaker B:the world,
Speaker A:it depends if you're able to do this yet or not.
Speaker A:But try to go on a walk together.
Speaker B:Mm, that'd be so refreshing and great connection and conversation time for sure.
Speaker A:So that's our challenge this week.
Speaker A:Weekly challenge.
Speaker A:Go on a walk together again.
Speaker A:We're Jeff and Teresa Phil's we're aspiring marriage We.
Speaker A:Our vision is to encourage couples to enhance their marriages by building their friendship.
Speaker A:Because remember, husband and wife are friends for life.
