Ep. 7 Intimacy in Marriage Starts with Intimacy with God

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Are you ready to build a life, business and legacy that truly lasts? Welcome to Faithfully Invested with Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne, where Faith meets real talk. Biblical wisdom meets everyday life and leadership meets laughter. Together we will uncover God's blueprint for leadership, marriage, and mission, helping faith-driven leaders invest in what matters most. Each episode, we explore biblical wisdom, have real conversations, and of course, have some fun along the way because let's be real. Walking in faith is an adventure. It sure is. So pull up a seat, grab your coffee or your sweet tea, and join us as we steward our callings with intention, because when we invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase. Hey friends. Welcome back to Faithfully Invested, where we are discovering God's blueprint for leadership, marriage, and mission. One Kingdom Principle at a time. We're your host, Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne. In today's episode is especially for the married people or those fixing to tie the knot. Mm-hmm. Now listen, if that's not where you're at right now, that's okay. Not every episode's gonna be for everybody, but we bet. Dollars to donuts that if you decide to stick around that the good Lord might just drop something on you. Uh, that really speaks to your heart. Yeah. And for those of you who are married or hoping to be someday, today's topic is a game changer.'cause we're talking about how intimacy with God, I'm sorry, intimacy with marriage. Yeah. Starts with intimacy, with with God. Intimacy with God. Right. That's it. No matter how strong your connection is. If Jesus isn't your set foundation in your cornerstone mm-hmm. You're definitely building on shaky ground. However, when you both seek him first, everything else aligns so that you may abide. Absolutely. So pour yourself some coffee or you know how we say sweet tea, if that's what you prefer. We are in the the south. That works too. We are in the south. Open your Bible. Call your honey and let's dive into this. You ready? I'm ready. Let's do it. So if you're new to us, here's the short version. We're not just ministry partners or podcast hosts. We're a married couple that's walked through some pretty significant challenges. Mm-hmm. To get to these humbling days. Yeah. Still not perfect, and that's okay. Uh, we've learned that when we stop striving for perfection, that our relationships actually get better as we love each other as we are so that we might grow together. Yeah. You know, we've lived through seasons where everything felt sweet and connected. And then there's the ones where I think we both might've felt like we were just roommates with rings on. Yeah. Yeah. And we can, uh, we can both tell you without. Hesitation that, um, when we were individually seeking God, when she was doing her thing over there and I was doing my thing over here and we were playing the game his way, we were stronger together that way. But, but more so when we commune with him and each other simultaneously mm-hmm. We became unshakeable and even unbreakable. Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean. We, I'm not, that's not to say we don't need our time alone with the Lord obviously, but we need our time as a married couple together. Absolutely with the Lord as well. And that is like a classic triangle example. You know, God at the top, husband and wife at the bottom, right? And the closer each of you gets to the top, the closer you get to one another, right? So it's a really great example. Of what it looks like to do life with, with God, with God first. Yeah, that's right. That, that's what this, that's what this is all about. Mm-hmm. Intimacy is about putting God first. Yeah. And that's not just some cute Christian counseling talk. It's scriptural. Yeah. Uh, Matthew 6 33, that's our core verse. Mm-hmm. For this season, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Now, even while Jesus is speaking about food, drinking clothing in 6 33, his provision certainly does not end with basic earthly necessities. When we seek him with all of our hearts, we find him and all. All, all of his relational fruit. Can you say all? So when we seek him first, we find all of his relational fruit that he has for those who love him. Yeah. So what's that look like, babe? Oh my goodness. Well, for me, I would say it looks like peace and connection and of course a deeper love in our marriage because when we start putting him first, like you were saying, things really start to align. In our marriage and, and we went through seasons where, like you said, we weren't aligned with him completely'cause we were doing our own things, but we needed to come together and commune with him as a couple. As a couple. But it took us a while. It took us a while to get there. Yeah. It took us a while to start recognizing that that's what needed to happen. And so when we started. Realigning ourselves with him. Um, together we were together, we were reminded. Yeah, we got, we were reminded to seek him first. Right now, we're not saying that, uh, to not seek him. On your own. I, I think you mentioned that. Yeah. It's important for us to seek him individually mm-hmm. And what he has for each of us and, and who he wants to be. Right. That's a great question. Who do you want to be for me today, Lord. Mm-hmm. Uh, we're not saying don't seek him as, as yourself. Don't seek, we're saying seek him as a husband. Seek him as a wife. Yeah. But seek him as a husband and wife as well. Yeah. Let him be that. Third strand in that cord. Absolutely.'cause that's where he wants to be. Absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, a, a lot of couples actually get stuck and us included.'cause we tried to fix the marriage horizontally with date nights, with books, with communication tricks, retreats. I mean, we went on a retreat, which was amazing. Hey, the retreat was cool. Now I'm not saying not to do it. Yeah. But. There was more to it, so, but you name it. And, and we tried it all. And again, while they were all good things, they weren't the answer to deeper intimacy with. Him. Right. In fact, if we're just being raw here, there, there were times when we came home from a date night that it ended in an argument. Yeah. Or even better. Oh wait, I got even better.'cause I remember a time that the argument started before we even got out of the development. Yeah. And we called it a night early. We came home, we're like, okay, we're not doing this. Anybody else been there? Yeah. I mean, we're being, we're being truthful and raw with you here. We've been there and, and, and he's seen us through it. Mm-hmm. So could, but we, we tried to see if we could fix ourselves on our own, if we could align ourselves on our own. Uh, don't you think we would've done that by now? Don't you think the divorce rate in the United States would be much lower? Mm-hmm. But it's not possible. We, it, we. The horizontal alignment comes after, right. The essential vertical alignment. Mm-hmm. We gotta have it. It's the, the scripture says, the word says seek his kingdom and his righteousness first. Yeah. And then so we seek our relation with him first. We seek his righteousness, that vertical alignment with him first. Mm-hmm. And then. The horizontal alignment is added to us. All these things will be added to us. Yeah. So without that vertical alignment, all the stuff mm-hmm. It's all like band-aids on bullet wounds. You can, you can, yeah. You can pick up all the, the marriage counseling books you want. Mm-hmm. But, you know. Like a bandaid on a bullet wound. Heart issues are not mended by superficial. Look good. See good solutions. In fact, I wouldn't call them solutions at all. The only solution, the solution starts with connection with with Yahweh, Yeshua and the Holy Spirit. Well, I'm gonna say the cross says it all. The cross does say it all because horizontally. That that cross would not stand. It had to be vertically to hold up the horizontal, the hor, the, the vertical post mm-hmm. Is it points to the points to the Lord, right? Yeah. And right. You know, it does not stand without the vertical post with the horizontal beam. Is, it's, it's symbol. Symbolic being, that's the word I was trying to find. Yeah. The horrors, the vertical post is symbolic of the forgiveness and mm-hmm. And, and the work from the lord to us. Mm-hmm. And so that we might. Uh, have the relation that he calls us to with others. Mm-hmm. Which is horizontally. Right. But, but the vertical comes first. Right. And if our intimacy with God is off, and eventually it will eventually show up in our marriage, it'll show up. It's shown up in my tone. It's shown up in my patience, my emotional availability sometimes, you know? Yeah. Uh, but friends, we can't pour life from an empty cup. Oh. And when we're spiritually dry. We can't expect our spouse to be able to fill up that cup either. There's only one that has the ability to do that. I'm gonna go with a blammo on that. Blammo. Blammo, I love that one. Can't pour life from an empty cup. That's nice, babe. Thanks Tony. That's nice. Yeah. We've learned that the hard way. We have absolutely. Both of us, we've, yeah. We've tried to pour life from an empty cup. Mm-hmm. And it, it just doesn't. It just, it's not possible. Right. You gotta have, we had to have that vertical alignment. Yeah. Uh, so that we aligned horizontally. Right. Um, so, but the good news is there's always good news. There's always good news and, uh, yeah, God. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the best relational counselors that there are. Mm-hmm. And the, the sword of the Spirit, that is the word of God is our playbook when we decide to use the word as our playbook. Yeah. Of how to align and abide with them. Then things get a lot better. They do. You know, there, there was a season, and I'm sure, I know I'm not the only one who's experienced this, but there was a season early in our marriage where. I felt like I was the one who was carrying the spiritual side of things. I, I was reading my Bible, I was praying, I was doing ministry, and I was wondering why do I feel spiritually alone? And I was at that point carrying the spiritual side. Um, absolutely. I would agree. We were in different places. Agree. We were in very different places. Mm-hmm. I was new to the whole family thing. I was new to the whole Jesus thing. Mm-hmm. And I thought, and I was in a place where I thought being a good husband meant providing and protecting. Mm-hmm. Uh, and I was, uh, I was not leading, uh, spiritually because there were many other things that went before Jesus's truth for us as a couple, many other things. Uh, that went before him and I had no idea, truth be told, uh, in those days. Um, she was the spiritual leader of the house because I had no idea how to lead a family well, because I was barely connected with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And hindsight that had to be challenging for you. Well, uh, yeah. I mean, I'm not gonna say it wasn't frustrating because there were times that there, that it was, and, and I'll admit that there was a period of time where I can probably say now that I resented you for not being the spiritual leader of our home. But, but it wasn't, it's not about pointing fingers. It's not. It was about both of us realigning with God individually. Yeah. So that we could connect spiritually. And she was patient as a couple. She was very patient with me. Sometimes my patience was tried. But I, yes, it was moving on. Moving on. But there was a turning point. There was a turning point. Yeah. And that, and that turning point was when we stopped trying to fix each other. Mm-hmm. And we started pursuing God personally. Yeah. Started pursuing God together. Yeah. And we don't have time to get into all that right now. No. But I will tell you that Ephesians five preaches all day and night. Yeah. But. Short, uh, short version though when I learned that as the husband, I must love and honor Stacey Joe, that Christ loved the church as Christ loved the church. Whoa. It was, I was like, Keanu Reeve and Bill and Ted. I was like, whoa. Strange. Things were afoot at the Circle K, right? Yeah. But, uh, I had, we like to include a little pop culture in our shows, right, man. Uh, so anyway. When I learned that I, I was, as the husband, I, I'm, mm-hmm. I, I must love and honor Stacey Joe, just as Christ loved the church. I knew that I could not handle them without him. I was like. It was a wake up call. Like I was never meant to handle marriage without him in the first place, and neither are you friends. Mm-hmm. Uh, that those were humbling days. And that's when the walls started coming down. Yeah. Uh, we didn't crumble, but the walls started coming down. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and then we began to grow together. And at the same time, I learned that I needed to respect you because men are looking for respect. Women are looking for love. And that's, that's a whole nother topic. Or not really a whole nother topic, another, but a whole nother episode at least that we could get into, right? But, but that shift, I mean, that shift changed everything. Our communication improved. Affection came easier. Grace flowed naturally. And why? Because our cups were full. Right? Our cups were full. Right? They, we were overflowing and we weren't relying on, I wasn't relying on him to fill my cup, and he wasn't relying on me to fill his right because we were being filled by the only one who can fill us. Jesus. Jesus, praise him. Yes. Yes. So how do we actually build that kind of spiritual intimacy in our marriage? Hmm. Practical. Hmm. Here it is. Practical. Five practical steps. You know how I love practical? I do know how you love practical. I don't get sure as practical. Uh, here are five practical steps that, that we worked over. Over, mm-hmm. Time that worked for us and worked for several other couples and we're still a work in progress. We still have to do these always. We still have to do these just about the second that we think that we have arrived. Mm-hmm. Here comes, yeah. New challenges, right? We we're always learning, always growing, how to improve, uh, from that foundation, from that cornerstone, who is Jesus Christ? So, number one, practical solution. Start with your personal walk. Mm-hmm. Spend time and prayer. Spend time in the word, cannot emphasize that enough. Spend time in the word. Start with 10 minutes a day. If that's what it takes to get started. Start with just 10 minutes a day and grow from there. It's all about starting, so get it started and grow from there. Yeah, yeah. Honor him here and see what he shows you about how you need to grow in your Christ Center relationship with your spouse. Yeah. And then you can pray together because it's so important that we come into prayer with our spouse, and it doesn't have to be essential fancy. It is essential, yeah. It doesn't have to be fancy. Thank God. Just thank God for your day. Ask him to protect your marriage. You know, one of the prayers that we pray oftentimes is the prayer of Jabez, and that's a simple prayer that. Powerful it is. And simple prayers lead to powerful unity. We even like to add weekly and sometimes daily, sometimes daily communion into our time with him. Yeah. That's pretty cool. And that's something that we, we haven't always done. I mean, that's something that we have started more recently, right? As we grow, as we, as we mature in our, in our faith walk. Mm-hmm. Together. Yeah. And you know, they say that a couple that prays together stays together. We hear that all the time, but a couple that sits at his table remains strong and stable, right? So if we sit together at God's table, we will remain strong and stable. Absolutely. That's good. That's good. And I, and to add to the prayer, pray together. Mm-hmm. I remember something that, uh, that the pastor Tom Mullens said years ago. I remember when, when we were at Christ Fellowship. Mm-hmm. The pastor Tom said that he never left the house before he prayed over Ms. Donna, uh, the Lord's Prayer. Yeah. And I was like, man, that's a good idea. Yeah. And that's, and that's when I started that. I never, uh, I leave for work. I'm up and I'm out the door, uh, four or five days a week. Uh, and if I'm with the guys on Saturday, sometimes four or five hours earlier than me. Right. Right. And I, but I don't leave the house. The last thing I do before I leave the house is I will, uh, yeah, I'll pray the Lord's prayer over stays and, and then, uh, yeah. You know, I love you. And sometimes she's with it, sometimes not so much. But the prayer is said, you know, it's, it's honoring the Lord, right. With the, with our spouse and with the first part of our day. Mm-hmm. So that brings us to number three, and that is worship. In your home. Yeah. We talked about this extensively. Last episode was all about worship and what, and what it actually is and, and what it actually means. Uh, but worship is a weapon. Mm. Uh, it is worship is a weapon. And I, that, that, again, will, that'll, that'll preach all day. We're not gonna get deep into it, but worship is a weapon that keeps the enemy. Uh, we all know that we have an enemy, but worship. Is a weapon that keeps the enemy out of our space. Yeah. Yeah. And we don't want the, the enemy has no rain in our space. And if he, and if he's in our space, he's trespassing. That's right. This, this, this space here. This belongs to Jesus Christ. We were bought with a price and we belong. He has, the enemy has no place here. And he knows it. So worship for Christ, for the Father, first for Christ, and in the Holy Spirit keeps the enemy out of our space. So we need to use that as a weapon. That's good. So whether. Whether over a bountiful grilling session of charred flesh. Ew, that's good stuff, man. Like to eat it. I don't wanna hear about it. Charred, flesh, yummy. But, uh, or whether it's Stacey Jo, just, just digging the worship music around the house or whistling his glory in and around our home or the office. Uh, worship invites. Our creator into our space, into our daily space. It sure does. It sure does. It's so important. And I'm gonna say that four, the fourth way is a big one. Huge. Huge. This one is huge. And it may be one that, well, it's one that took me a hard time to grasp a hold of. Yeah. And I'm sure I'm not alone in that. Um, but that is to practice forgiveness quickly. Mm. Forgiveness, uhhuh forgiveness, that's a big one. And there were times that I wanted to stay bitter and angry, and I thought I deserved that. I deserved this happened to me and I deserved to be angry and feel bitter about it, and I'm not ready to forgive yet. Yeah. Because, because that always works. Right? But yeah, I, you know, I, I've heard it, we've heard it often said that resentment or bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. And it it, and it's true because it just eats you up inside. It does. It does nothing to the other person. It doesn't. So don't give bitterness a foothold. Be quick to say, I'm sorry. And even quicker to say, I forgive you. Absolutely. Even if the other person is like, forgiving me for what? But at least you know, and it's off your plate. Right? Absolutely. We gotta take care of our side of the street. That's right. That's some old school recovery stuff there. It sure is. Right on our side of the street, but good stuff. Whatever. Whatever's in my hula hoop. Right? I'm, I'm, that's what I'm responsible for. Yeah. Yeah, we're only responsible for ourselves. Right, right. Yeah. So number five of our, uh, five practical solutions is ask intentional spiritual questions. Mm-hmm. So, ask your stop, take a moment and ask your spouse. Mm-hmm. What is God teaching you today? Mm-hmm. And see. And, and see if that matches up with what he's teaching you today. Yeah. You know what he is teaching your spouse, is that matching with what he's saying to you in your quiet time? Mm-hmm. Or how can you learn from each other, you know? Or how can I pray for you today? That's a good question. That's a good one. That's a great question for, uh, anytime. Anytime for, for the one that, that he's, that he's given, given us. Yeah. You know, so intimacy starts with small conversations. It does. I mean, it, it just really does whi which. Which brings me, I, I want us to take this to a fun place because this has been pretty deep and we've, you know, we've spoken about the intimacy with the Lord and how that is the beginning of intimacy with our spouse. But, you know, something, we wanted to do something fun on this episode because, because there, because intimacy. It must be fun as well. Yeah, absolutely. We gotta have fun with it, right? It does. It's what we got. Marriage should include joy and, and playtime too, right? So, absolutely. So I thought it would be fun if we did some. Faithfully fun question and answer. All right. Okay. This is gonna let them get to know us a little more. Yeah. And, and it's gonna give them some prompts as well. Absolutely. Um, we'll, we'll recap the prompts at the end, but Right on. Um, yeah, so go ahead. So this is your faithfully fun r mm-hmm. Faithfully fun question and answer session. There's a few simple lighthearted questions to help us connect on a, on a different level. You know, they're. Pretty cool questions. We're gonna go first and then you and your spouse can try it later. Yeah, we will. We'll take the, the questions and we'll put'em in the show notes. Yep. So, alright, Alan, first question, if you got to relive one day, just one day that we have spent together over the years, what day would it be? Yeah, this is, this is a tough one. Yeah, I was, I'm like one day. One day. Yeah. We're gonna celebrate 14 years here at the, uh, yeah. In a couple of weeks. Mm-hmm. So I'm thinking one day, uh, so honestly, I had to go to the Lord on this one. It might have been easier to say. What day do you not wanna relive? No comment. So anyway, I had to go to the Lord on this one.'cause you know, it'd be easy to mm-hmm. To pick a day from, um, from the good times that we've had'cause, and we've had a lot of good times. Yeah. Uh, that's, that's kind of cliche. It's easy to pick any one of those days. Um, but, you know, the Lord reminded me of the first day in this house. Mm. And I was like, just so you know, we, we record in our home. So in our living room, right. Not everybody knows that, but this is where, this is our home studio. Yeah. Right. So he, I, um, it's, we listen, when, when, when we go to the Lord and I, I had some quiet time and I'm just like, Lord, what, what is the. The day I'd like to relive. What do you say about that? He's like, and he reminded me, I'm like, all right, you know, we're looking for spontaneous thoughts that don't often make sense. And I was like, all right. This one, this one checked both of those boxes. It's, it was a spontaneous thought, uh, that I had. I certainly didn't think of that. And, uh, and it didn't really make sense. He said, uh, he reminded me of the first day in his house. Now, honestly, I don't recall any particular moment from that day, but, uh, this. This place was the first place in years. We looked for a house for years. Three. Three years. Three years. Yeah. And this was, uh, this was the first place that we walked into with a new realtor mm-hmm. That the entire family agreed upon. Yeah. Uh, and the move went perfectly. I was perfectly assistant and, uh, the move was done in a very timely manner. Uh, and the first day marked our new beginning. Yeah. As a couple and as a family in this house. And like I said, I, I don't remember a particular moment from that day, but look at what he's done with a sense in this house. Yeah. A lot, a lot, A lot has happened. Since we a a lot, so, so that's, uh, um, so what about you? Oh my goodness. Like one day, one one day go. Um, I. My gosh. I mean, there's so many and I could, I could go shallow and I could say like, I loved the day that we spent at the beach for my birthday last year. Yeah. Like we, we just spent a whole day, um, just enjoying each other's company. Yeah. No phones, no nothing, just. You know, went and had oysters and went to the beach and Yeah. And I think we even went and got, uh, Manny's and Petties and we did. Yeah. Was It was a good day. It was, it was a great day. And we did that just earlier this week too. We did. So we gotta have fun. And we just, we're like, Hey, we gotta have fun. Uh, we're gonna go out. And we just, we made it up as we go. We didn't have any agenda, you know? Yeah, yeah. But, uh, anyway, but I, but I would say. The day that I had the realization that I needed to work on myself and well, that crossed my mind. I did it. It did. Go ahead. I remember waking up in the morning and you were just getting outta bed, I think, and I said, Alan. You need to sit down. I have something to tell you because you'd been praying for that for a long time for me to step into. At the time we were in Celebrate Recovery. Yeah. Or you were in Celebrate Recovery and I was leading worship. Right. And, but I wasn't, I Unless you were giving the teaching. I would leave right after the teaching or after I was done singing. And I remember that morning and. I said, Alan, I need for you to sit down because the Lord had been stirring in my heart that I'll get choked up. Yeah. The Lord had been stirring in my heart that I needed to work on myself. There had been such pride and such things that had happened to me throughout the years. Yeah, and I'm not sure if when you sat down you thought I was gonna say I was pregnant or something, but. I don't recall. I don't recall what I might have thought or what I thought was coming, but I do recall that I was verle Yeah. Uh, at the, at the answer. Right. And I was uh,'cause that was an answer to prayer. Yeah. And as I was going through that, that day did cross my mind. Yeah. Uh, it was, uh, and so I said, the Lord Choice has, the Lord has called me to step into a step study with Celebrate Recovery. And I remember you sitting back down on the bed and just. Weeping. Yeah. That was awesome. Yeah, it was awesome. Tears of joy. Tears of joy. Tears of joy. Because he had been praying for that. He had been praying for that. So I would say that one for me. That was a little deep. That was good. That was a, we just said we were gonna, it's still fun. It's still fun. Good memories. Yeah, good memories. But, um, alright, let's go to second question next. So what's, uh, what's one thing that I do that shows you that I'm thinking about you even without words? Oh, well, definitely it's when you bring me my coffee, um, like usually on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you'll bring me my coffee or sometimes it's, um, when you say, Hey, I bought you a new, I stocked the fridge with, uh, Coke zeroes. Yeah. Because that's my, I'd say that's my guilty pleasure is my Coke zero. That's her jam. Yeah. And, uh. And you'll come and say, Hey, I stocked the refrigerator. So I would say, you know, it's, it's the little things sometimes. It is, it is absolutely the little thing sometimes. So. All right. What about you? Yeah, it's, uh, whenever, uh, whenever you come into a room with me, may, maybe the kitchen hugs for no reason, but love in the moment. Aw, it's pretty cool. Um. Or when you enter the room and you, you spread out your arms and you announce you will hug me now. Yeah. It's a, usually I'm focused on getting something done and that's, it's, uh, it's, I make you stop somewhat humorous, but I, I make you stop. Yeah. But what I, what I really love, uh, is when I'm working at my desk and you, you quietly come up behind me and you gently put your, your arms around my neck and my shoulders, and you. Probably gimme a kiss on a cheek and, uh, Aw. And just tell me you love me. Just, or, or, thanks for all that I do. And, uh, so that's, I really like that. That's good stuff there. Awesome. Yeah. All right. Well, I'm gonna ask you another one. Um, if you could take, if we, if we could take a spontaneous week and get away, no responsibilities, where are we going? Like where would you, where would you take me? Where are you going? What's that? You first? Oh, well, okay. Well, I'm gonna say somewhere with water. I'm gonna say a no cell service. No cell service. No service. Service. And just uninterrupted time with you. You know, I'm, I'm a beach girl. I like to have my toes in the sand, so, so probably a sandy beach, maybe a desert, deserted island somewhere. I don't know, but yeah. Well, I'm gonna, uh, I'm gonna go with the same, yeah. Definitely, uh, anywhere that we can enjoy, uh, the Lord's beautiful creation together without interruptions. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, maybe the hot springs, you know. Ooh, hot springs. We, uh, okay. Hot springs for a long weekend, uh, with no phones, no computer, no agenda, just us and the Lord and the wonder of his beauty. No cat. Definitely no cat. As our cat has come to join us on the set here right now. But there she is. You know, this is the infamous Tinkerbell. Anyhow. Hi Tank. You. I know you were born to be a star. The glory of a home studio. Yes. Video. Alright, let's do one more. How about one more? Yeah, we can do one more. Um, what's the one way. That, uh, that I can, uh, pray for you this week? Ah, this is one that we said would be a good one. You said would be a good one to, that's always one to ask. Yeah. I would say for wisdom and for clarity as we continue building this ministry together and as we continue to do these podcasts, that, that we would clearly hear the Lord's voice for direction. Yeah. And the next steps. What about you? Absolutely. How can I pray for you? I would, uh, I would definitely say the same, uh, wisdom and clarity. Mm-hmm. Uh, may, it might sound cliche, but, uh, where we are. Mm-hmm. Uh, and, and what the Lord's placed in front of us that's so needed here. Um, yeah. Just as we live from, uh, his victory, uh, we always want to lead, uh, from his will. Yes. So remember, his plans and his purposes are always higher and greater than our own. Mm-hmm. Uh, so definitely, definitely praying for wisdom and clarity. I love it when we're on the same page. It's good. It's good. But we, we had another question. Oh, did we? About, uh. Uh, the stranded island thing, who would, uh, oh yeah. So if we were, yeah, this is a fun one. That is a fun one. If we were stranded on a desert island, um, yeah. Which one of us would survive? Yeah. Yeah. So who would survive the longest, I think was the, the question who would the longest on a, if we were stranded on a desert island? And I'm gonna go with that. Uh, I believe that, uh, by stranded island standards. I'm, I'm kind of a city boy still, but, uh, but still a man. Uh, and I'm gonna, as a man, I'm gonna do, uh, I'm gonna do my best to, uh, do what I gotta do when it comes down to it, right? So, so that said, as I survive, so do you. Okay, so said, what am I, a savage? Just, you're not a savage, you're just a good protector. I am. That when you're a good protector, that's, you know, as a husband, going back to Ephesians five, uh, just as I love you, as Christ loved the church. Especially shall I, uh, care for you in those desperate situations. Yeah. So, so, yeah. So we survive. So we survive together. Together. That's what it, that's what it's about. And that's a, that's a really great answer from this, this comfy, uh, home studio. It is a really good answer's. What? And it comes down to it. You know, we survive. Well, thank you for protecting me Well, absolutely. And, and helping me to survive along with you. You better Thank Jesus.'cause he, he's the one that put me up to it. Alright friends, well it's your turn. Here are the four question answer prompts to ask each other. You know, if actually there's five, because we had added the extra whi. But the first one is, if we got to relive relive one day that we spent together, what day would it be? Right. Ask your spouse this and see what his or her answer is, right? And see how they line up. And uh, the second question is, what's the one thing that that you do that shows your spouse that you love them? Uh, maybe without using words. Mm-hmm. I like that one. Uh, the third one would be if you could take a spontaneous weekend getaway, where would you go? Yep. And number four? Mm-hmm. Is if you were stranded uhhuh on a desert island, who would survive the longest? Yeah. Hopefully you come up with the same answer that Alan did. Rewind it and check it out, guys. That's the, that's the Ephesians five answer whenever we're aligned with the Lord's word. That's right. Yeah, we're doing all right. And then of course, always ask your spouse daily, what's one way I can pray for you today that's good, or this week, you know, that's good, but preferably ask him daily. How can I pray for you today? That's good. It's important to take that time. Yeah. But these small questions, I mean, they can spark big connections. I mean, it helps with communication. Communication was one of our issues in the very beginning. We didn't know how to communicate with one another, but you don't need a mountain retreat, although. That sounds kind of nice too, but yeah. It's coming. Yeah. But just, you just need a few minutes of presence. Of presence and intentionality with one another. Yeah. Yeah. It's important. What about living a life that doesn't require a annual vacation? Mm mm-hmm. So when we make room for, for joy and vulnerability, yeah. We invite God. To bless our space. Yeah, our space. Yes. Yeah. So, you know, here's your, here's your call to action. Pick one of those questions and the question and answer prompts. And start a conversation. Do it tonight. Today. Do it tonight. Do it today. Do it now. You don't have to do all of them, but take one. Maybe spread'em out throughout the week. No pressure. Just presence with each other. Definitely. Ask her the question now. So even if you and your spouse, uh, even if your spouse isn't there mm-hmm. Uh, spiritually, yet we encourage you, don't stop seeking the Lord. Yeah. Because it's, it's the overflow from your faith that blesses your home. Yeah. So next week we're gonna wrap up this first season with a powerful episode. About how intimacy with God fuels your calling and kingdom impact and you don't want to miss it. Yeah. Until then, keep loving. Well, praying first, laughing off. And always remember when you are faithfully invested, invested God brings, God brings the increase. Have a blessed week. Take care. See you next week. Thanks for joining us on Faithfully Invested with Allen and Stacy Jo, if today's conversation encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you see your calling more clearly, don't keep it to yourself. That's right. Share it with a friend. Leave a five star review and keep leaning into God's blueprint for your life, your leadership, and your legacy. So until next time, remember, when you invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase.