S4, Ep. 4: Marriage on Mission: Walking Together in Unity

Marriage isn’t meant to be a 50/50 survival plan—it’s a Kingdom partnership. In this episode, Allen & Stacy Jo Thorne invite you into a real and relatable conversation about what it looks like to move from coexisting to co-laboring—from living under one roof to living under one mission.

With humor, honesty, and heartfelt scripture, they unpack how to keep Christ at the center of marriage, why intentionality matters more than compatibility, and how prayer, communication, and laughter can pull you closer when life tries to pull you apart.

💬 Whether you’re newly married, decades in, or praying for that future spouse, this episode will help you:

✅ Shift from autopilot to intentional unity—because “just surviving” isn’t the goal.
✅ Recognize how small drifts lead to big distance, and how to stop it before it starts.
✅ Reignite prayer in your marriage without pressure or perfection.
✅ Balance two callings without comparison or competition.
✅ Learn to listen to understand, not just to reply (yes, even when you disagree).
✅ Bring humor back into the daily chaos—because laughter lightens the load.

📖 Scripture References

• Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 — A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
• Matthew 6:9–13 — The Lord’s Prayer as our model for unity and simplicity.
• Romans 8:6 — Life and peace come from walking in the Spirit, not the flesh.
• 1 Chronicles 4:10 — The Prayer of Jabez: “Bless me indeed and enlarge my territory.”

✨ Key Takeaways

• Unity is a daily decision, not a one-time vow.
• A strong marriage has three cords—husband, wife, and Christ.
• Prayer doesn’t have to be long to be powerful—short, simple, and sincere counts.
• Real partnership isn’t about equal visibility, but equal faithfulness.
• Humor and humility are holy tools that heal more than we realize.

🧭 Timestamps
00:00 Welcome & the word that defines this season: Intentionality
04:18 Ecclesiastes 4 — God’s blueprint for unity in marriage
10:52 Drift leads to distance: learning to notice and correct it
16:35 How to pray together daily (without awkwardness or guilt)
23:08 Balancing callings and assignments as a Kingdom couple
29:40 Listening to understand—communication that cultivates peace
36:05 Finding joy and laughter in the chaos
42:48 The 7-Day Prayer Challenge: small steps toward spiritual connection

🔥 This Week’s Challenge: The 7×7 Prayer Challenge
For the next seven days, pray together with your spouse once per day. It doesn’t have to be long—just consistent. Thank Him. Invite Him. Listen together.
Then tell us how it’s going! Message us at info@faithfullyinvested.com
or visit faithfullyinvested.com to connect and share your progress.

💬 Join the Conversation
If this episode encouraged you, would you take 30 seconds to follow, rate, and leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Your words help other couples discover Faithfully Invested and grow closer to God and each other.

#FaithfullyInvested #MarriageOnMission #ChristianMarriage #Unity #PrayTogether #KingdomCouple #FaithDrivenMarriage #BiblicalWisdom #PodcastForCouples

Transcript

0:01

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. I am Allen and this pretty lady to my right is the lovely Stacy Jo. Aw, thank you babe. I'll take that though. I'm guessing that the listeners might think that you are like trying to get bonus points for later. Well, they can think what they want. You can, you cannot contest the truth, babe. Aw. Uh. But seriously today, uh, we're diving into marriage on mission. Not just surviving marriage, but thriving together on purpose for God's kingdom. One word comes to mind here, and that's intentionality. Tention, that's a good word. Intentionality. And we don't want you just to survive, although sometimes we know it feels like we're surviving, but we do want you to thrive. And you might be listening right now and saying, you know, I'm not even married. But whether you've been married in the past or you're waiting for that, right? Some for that right person to come along, you may just find something in this for you as well. So hang in there and listen. And babe, I like the word that you brought up, uh, intentionality. That's a great word. And I think we can all agree that. In marriage, unity doesn't just happen. No, certainly not. It's not like you say I do, and suddenly you're all synced up together. At least that wasn't the case for us. Right? You know, it wasn't Wonder Twin powers activate. PR form of an amazing husband. Right. That's good, babe. Yeah. Anyway, yeah, form of shape. An incredible wife shape. Oh, shape of shape. Shape of shape of an incredible wife. Anyway, dating ourselves there, but yes, but no, it actually, it takes concerted prayer, it takes effort, it takes humor like that. And it takes a whole lot of grace. Grace. And, you know, if you've been married for a while, you know what I'm talking about. Grace. Grace, absolutely. On the grace. And, uh, I like what Solomon wrote in chapter four of Ecclesiastes. Mm-hmm. Verses 9-12. He says two are always better than one because they have a good return for their labor, uh, for the, if one of them falls and the other one can. Pick up their companion, uh, but woe to the one who falls and there's no one there to pick'em up. Uh, furthermore, if, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm. But what, how will one keep warm if they're alone? Right. Uh, I, Solomon goes on. It's not just a comforter, it's not just a comforter and a, and a nice body pillow, but, uh, yeah. Anyway, Solomon goes on right to say if, if one, uh, if one can overpower him, who's alone, two can resist him. A court of three strands. Hmm. It's not quickly torn apart, it's not quickly broken. Uh, that's God's picture for marriage with him at the center, uh, unbreakable when a cord of three strands is, is not easily broken, not quickly torn apart. Uh, another version says, so it's important that we keep. Uh, the Lord to keep Christ, to keep the Holy Spirit, the, the whole kit and caboodle right, uh, at the center of our, of our marriage so that, um, we are not quickly torn apart, right? Lilo, you're making an appearance. There she is. Hello. Do you want up here? You want up here with your sister? Come on up. But the challenge is not always the dog, but the challenge is that life pulls us in different directions. You know, careers, kids, ministries, hobbies, and even just personality differences, right? Yes. She's like, you have a different personality than the other one. Come here, she's upset because you called her a dog. She's not a dog. She's a shihtzu. Yes. So this is Lilo. Yes. Mm-hmm. We're gonna put you right over here. Okay. With your sister. There you go. Yeah. There we go. La Laia says thank you. Um, but you know, like I was saying, it can pull us in different directions, careers, kids, ministries, hobbies, shitzu, even Shitzu, personality differences. But some of you listening might feel like you and your spouse are on separate tracks, like roommates instead of teammates. We can attest to the fact that we know what that feels like because we have been there. Yes. That situation sounds all too familiar. Right? Because, you know, we, there have been times, uh, more than once that then, uh, we've been under one roof, but going in separate directions. Mm-hmm. Uh, the adversary. The adversary, the enemy of our soul wants us separated. But it really doesn't matter, does it? It doesn't matter what, uh, the devil, Satan, Lucifer, whatever you want to call him. It doesn't matter what he wants, because here's the truth, he was det tooth, the declawed at the cross. Amen. When, when, when Christ's blood pours out, and even more so thoroughly dethroned, mm-hmm. When Christ walked out of that empty tomb, he lost all authority that he has over anyone who claims Christ a savior.'cause we, as we claim Christ a savior, we walk under and end his authority. So it doesn't matter what the, what the enemy wants. He wants, and he, he'd love us to be separated because we have, we were one, we, we recognize that we've been created for a purpose. We were created to be together. Uh, and we have overcome much. Under an in Christ Authority. We and, and we, we walk with Christ and we're guided by the Holy Spirit and we shake Hell's Gates with great Kingdom purpose. With great kingdom intention. Yes. And that might sound boisterous to someone, but we don't mind. Saying that, that we believe that God did not bring us here to play patty cake with puppy dogs. We're not here to play child games. Right? He brought us here to fight under and in his authority to take back. Territory for his kingdom. He put us together. He put Allen and Stacy Jo together for his purpose. This is what we believe in. Mm-hmm. This is our pisteuo belief. Pisteuo is the, uh, the, the Greek word for believe in. There's a difference from believing and believing in something and we, we pisteuo that. Mm-hmm. That Jesus Christ is Lord, and that we were created on purpose for his purpose, and, and we move forward together. You are preaching, babe. Uh, you are preaching. Come on. This came off of that men's conference, man. Yeah. Anyway, pastor Joby Martin and Church of 1122. Huge shout out to 2025 men's conference. Amazing to say the least. Yeah, but we are still fallible, finite humans. We are, we are fallible human beings. And, and, and we are. There's there, but we're, we, were create, we were created in the image, but we are. You know, we're just human, right? We we're finite Humans serving in infinite God. Yes. Uh, so, so, but as finite humans, we can get tangled up in our personal dailies. We, and, and when we do that, we can get caught up in the busyness. The business and the busyness, we can, and communication might drop and, and in the busyness we might neglect or, or forget prayer and or we might taper off in our intentional mutual support and drift can lead to distance. Mm-hmm. Gotta be That's a slippery slope. Yeah. Drift can lead to distance. So we gotta be intentional about recognizing that drift, recognizing the slip before the enemy gets a foothold. The word says, don't let the enemy get a foothold. That's right. Yeah. And resist him. And he will flee from you. Yeah. And we have, we have neglected prayer at times. We have dropped communication, we have tapered off in our mutual support, our intentional mutual support for one another. And I can remember, Allen, back to when we were working. Too much one of the times that we were working too much to pay the bills and, and we were butting heads on the best way to raise kids. I had my way having done it for many years. And you had your way and, and we were serving. Having no idea. Having no idea, but, and we were serving a lot in the church. We were serving too much in the church. And I definitely say that I don't miss those days, but I will say that we learned a lot through those Yeah. Days. And there were moments when I wondered and I would go so far as to say, doubted if we were even in the same book, let alone on the same page. Yeah. I'm definitely with you on that. Yeah. I remember, I'm sure. Yeah. You remember those days, right? I definitely remember that work was, uh, in, in those times, work was more frustrating. Mm-hmm. I was my own worst enemy in those times. I was, uh. I hadn't yet reached recovery, uh, work was more frustrating than it was fulfilling. Mm-hmm. Uh, and I was brand spanking new to the whole raising kids thing. Uh, so I, I dug into, I, I, I dug into where I was more comfortable. And, uh, I put on the service hat, uh, in the church, especially in, in the recovery ministry. When that time came, I really dug into that. Mm-hmm. Uh, and it was obviously beneficial. Uh, that was 12, a little over 12 and a half years ago that, that, that journey started. Uh, so it was, it was certainly beneficial, but what I, what I failed to reli, failed to see at the time. Uh, and men don't miss this. Uh, I failed to see that my first ministry should have been at home with my wife and kids. I should have been at home with, with, with Stacy, but instead I hid in a ministry, I hid in, in the recovery work. Mm. Um, I, I hid so, so much in the recovery work. My sponsor was astounded and, and how much work I got. I was doing, I was in my four step and, and I did an astronomical amount in, in a, in a week. And he's like. What else did you do? Mm-hmm. You, you have a new family. You have, you have a wife and, and kids at home. Uh, you're not doing any work this week? No. Did, did you work this week, you said? And, uh, but I, I remember I did it all the time. I did. I, I wrote out the fourth step. Did the, mm-hmm. The whole thing. Uh, I was, I, it, it was my new addiction. Mm-hmm. It was where I hid at because I wasn't good at home and I neglected my, what should have been my first ministry, uh, at home, uh, learning how to be a dad. Mm-hmm. Uh. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to be, I, I wasn't ready for that. Right. You know, I recognize that now. Uh, and I was a little too prideful then to say that, or, or let it go. So, so, but we learned, uh, we learned along the way and we worked together through extremely tough challenges. Yeah. Along the way. And, and, and he's seen us through it. Yeah. Uh, even in my, even in our. Stubbornness, uh, we made it through, and I'm, and I'm pretty darn happy that, that he saw us through it all. And I, I can say that he, he spotlighted and he really accentuated the whole Ecclesiastes 4 text in our life. Mm. Uh, then, and, and still now, you know, it really, yeah. It we're, we were, I remember when we were commissioned. And to reviving recovery Unbound, uh, pastor Todd said that Todd Mozingo at REVIVE Church, he said that you're gonna do this, uh, but you can't do it without her. Mm. And uh, and he's, it's the same thing, not just in ministry, but it more so, really more so in marriage. Mm-hmm. You know, it can't, I mean, we're, we gotta be here for each other, you know? Yeah. Uh, so We'll, and we'll come back to that, but I, but I liked what you said about. You know, your first ministry should have been home with, with me and the kids, but, and you spoke to the, the fathers and to the husbands. Yeah. But I, I wanna speak to the wives on that too. Yeah. And the mothers, because our first ministry, that's where. It starts and it's somehow in the busyness. We, we overlook, we cont tend to overlook that sometimes. Yeah. You know, when we've gotta get lessons prepared or when we've gotta get, you know, we're trying to get a book done or whatever, whatever the case may be. Um, our, our first ministry is at home with our husband. Or I'll say our spouse and our children. Yeah. That is our first ministry. So I, I just wanted to clarify that that just doesn't go for men, right? That goes for women as well, and, and God really did. Bring the whole Ecclesiastes 4 text to life for us. He did. Um, in those seasons, you know, it would've been so much easier for us to turn on one another instead of turning to God. And that's not to say that that didn't happen at times because. There were times we turned on one another. Certain it was rabid at times. Yeah. Yeah. It was rabid and we were, I can remember we were not good representatives, right? Uh uh Yeah. But we looked, remember, can remember door slamming? I can remember silent treatments. Um, yeah. But what helped us through that, you know, was learning that we have to set aside our personal pride and we have to become willing to work together and learn from each other. Yeah. Set aside personal pride. Yeah. That kind of rhymes. Absolutely. But yeah, we have to, it's, it's imperative. Its to any relationship, it is imperative as, as the Lord calls us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross mm-hmm. And follow him. Uh, pick up our cross daily. Yeah. And follow him. Uh, it's pride's gotta go. Mm-hmm. Uh, yeah. So there's, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Pride has to go, if, if we are going to thrive together in a marriage or any relationship, pride has got to go. Mm-hmm. So, deny your, deny yourself, if any. It is what the, the Lord says what Jesus Christ said. If anyone, uh, wants to follow me, if anyone decides to follow me, you must. He didn't say, well, if you want to, he said, you must deny yourself. Pick up your cross daily and follow me. Yeah. And that is. Yeah. Easier said than done, but how fulfilling it is. And I, uh, continue. And not to say that the, the day that we say that we've arrived is the day that it's over. Right. And, uh, so yeah. And by, because we never really arrived we're, it's, it's a daily dying to self. Mm-hmm. You know, it's a. Okay, and I'll, I'll take it back to Romans 8:6 which is our core verse for Unbound is, uh, it's a, it's a simple verse to, to live in the spirit to, or to walk in, uh, or real, really to walk in the flesh is, is death, but to, to live by, by and in the spirit is life and peace. Yes. You know, and we're, I'm happy to say we're living more life and peace these days than we are. Right. Uh. Than we are in, uh, fleshy death. Yeah. But there, that fleshy death is still dying. Right. Uh, what's, what's Deanna say? Die already? Die already? Yeah. To self, but, yeah. But anyway, but it would've been easier in that moment to sweep our, to sweep our messiness under the rug. Yeah. I mean, it, it would've been easier. That doesn't do any good. That's called denial, and there's nothing that really comes from that. You, we can sweep it under the rug, and so, so many people do. So if you're, if you're sweeping stuff under the rug, if you're just, if you're denying that there's an actual challenge there, you know. It's not going to go away by itself. And it, and, and it's just gonna heap up. It's just gonna heap up and, and then it, then it begs the question, what's that smell? Yeah, because it's, it, it, it goes under the rug and it just. Festers and rots. And it's nasty and it stinks, and Oh, oh yeah, we get it babe. We get it. Denial stinks. Yeah. You know, and, and we can't go through, we can't just ignore our differences. No. We can't go through our marriages or, or any relationship ignoring our differences. There's nothing to be gained from denial. Right. Um, we gotta acknowledge our differences. We have to respect our differences. Uh, if, if we are in it for the long run and we are mm-hmm. Um, we gotta respect our differences and we gotta discover how we can use our differences, uh, for, for our goodness and God's glory. And I, I think that we've learned well how to bAllence our strengths and, and weaknesses. Um, it's important. It's taken us a while, but we're getting there. Hey, you know, we're all works in progress, right? We are. We are. Works in progress and you know, if you don't, if you don't, we'll just keep going around the mountain until we get it right. You know? Right. You didn't get it. You didn't learn that lesson this time. Well, let's try it again. He says. And you'll get plenty of opportunities. And we, and we pick, we pick it up, you know? Yeah. But what we don't do is we never fail. Failure never defines us. And, and what we learn along the way is that, you know, it's I that it's important that we, we compliment each other. Mm-hmm. And while also, uh, compensating for each other. Mm. So where, wherever I'm lacking at you, you're able to pick up. The slack and, and this should be through any hu with any husband and wife and where I'm slacking you, you pick up, that's what I just said. Yeah. Wherever you're slacking, vice versa. Yeah. And vice versa. Wherever you're slacking, I'll, I'll pick it up. Uh, strengths and weaknesses, uh, compliment each other and compensate for each other. Uh, this is how God, how made us and, and as, and he put us together. And he knew this before we were born. He knew that we'd, he knew that we'd be sitting here talking about it. Right. You know, and, and David knew it too. Uh, I think it was, I, I could be wrong on the, the Psalm, uh, I'm pretty sure it's 39. I could be wrong on that, so please don't quote me on that. Uh, but the, he writes that David writes in, uh. The song that God formed us in, our, formed our inward parts as he knit us together in our mother's womb. And, and David recognizes that we were fearfully and wonderfully created by our creator. And, and that doesn't ma And if, if you're listening to this and you don't quite believe that, or, uh, you don't believe that, then. I would, we would just encourage you to, you know, and, and really investigate that'cause Yeah. Whether you believe it or whether you don't, you were created by a creator on purpose and for purpose or reach out to us. We would love to have that conversation with you. Yeah. We would love to have that conversation with you. And we'll always point it back to the, the truth that is God's word. Mm-hmm. Uh, man. Because he, he has a plan for us, and he knows our plan, uh, because he created us specifically, he has a specific role for his greater plan. Mm-hmm. We can make our own plans all, all we want. The word says that we can, uh, uh, there's a way that seems right to man, but leads to death. Mm-hmm. Um, but it's, it's his plan that matters. And well, it also says that we can make our plans, but he establishes our steps. He establishes our steps, right? So, absolutely. But let's not forget how important prayer is. I mean, prayer is so important through his plan, and just as communication is key in our relationship. So is it. Our relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I mean that, that is prayer. That's our communication. And I recall that anytime that we were not unified in our communication with him, it left a door open for disunity. Yeah. To creep in with us. But when we made space for him first at the beginning of our day. We definitely can feel the difference. Yeah. And in any life aspect, if you want improvement, there has to be clear communication and that includes ample amounts of listening rather than speaking. And you know, we'll talk about that a little more. That was, that was a mouthful, babe. Were you listening? What, what was that again? That's what I thought. Yeah. Can you repeat that? I, I, I missed the point. So why don't you move on? I'm just kidding my love. Listen to the replay. Anyway, so all that to, to offer solutions. We love to offer solutions based on our experience. You know, we don't. We've read a substantial amount of books, but we don't pull, we, everything that we share with you, any solutions that we, we share with you guys is we, is based on our experience. Mm-hmm. And something that we've been through. And, uh, and man, we have dropped the ball more times than I care to count, but, uh, but what, what the. The fir first. Uh, and you just mentioned this. I, I would say, uh, as we, as we wrap, start to wrap up here, start to wind down rather. Mm-hmm. Uh, our, our first solution this week would be praying together daily. Yeah. And that, and, and it doesn't have to be long and drawn out, you know, it doesn't, and in fact, the word says, you know, don't. When in, uh, John six, when Jesus told his, showed his disciples how to pray, he's like, don't, don't many don't use many words. You don't have to go on and on. You don't have to babble on, uh, like the pagans do, or like the religious leaders. Do you know concise prayers count too? Yeah. Uh, just joining together. Uh, before work or, or at night and inviting God into your marriage, inviting, uh, our triune Godhead, uh, father, son, and spirit, uh, into your marriage, that's a great place to start and build from there. And you'll see the difference that prayer makes, uh, in and through your days is a. Take it back to Ecclesiastes. It reminds us that the, when we, when we make him the, when we decide that he's the third cord in our strand, we will not be quickly broken. We will not break down. Uh, and that third strand's always Jesus man. Right. He is always the answer. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Always the answer. And it, it's important to, were prayers concerned. Um, I remember when I was. Uh, early, and I just, I had the laundry list prayer, you know, and that's just, that's just, that's, those are immature prayers. And I, but what, what the word says is enter your course with thanksgiving and praise, uh, instead of our, me, me, me, yummy list. It's not about me, me, me. It's about him. Him, him. Mm-hmm. You know, it's, IM, and it's important That, and the fir and. Redundant or not. You know, the first, my, the first line when I pray in the morning, uh, is, Lord, I thank you for this day. Yeah. You know,'cause I'm grateful.'cause there was, I mean, I, I don't want to get into it now, but the enemy tried to take me out. Mm-hmm. And I, I was doing a fairly good job of helping him, but, uh, so I'm grateful for, but God, but God, yeah. And I'm, I'm grateful for, uh. For this day. And that's, it's not just word play. It's not just bally who it's mm-hmm. It, I am, I'm genuinely grateful. So we start with, yeah. With Thanksgiving and praise. Yeah. Uh, to him. Yes. Who, who brought us to this point. And, and I love, I love the prayer of Jabez. That is a powerful prayer and. I would urge you to find that in scripture. And right now it's escaping me where it is and I should know it. But the prayer of Jabez is just a simple prayer that says, bless us, indeed increase my territory, cover me with your right hand, and protect me from evil. And you know, coming to him first with praise and thanksgiving and then. Just asking him to bless your day. Bless you. Bless. You're coming and you're going. And again, like Allen said, you don't have to babble on and on about that, but, um, you know, moving on, intentional communication. Listen to understand, not just to reply. Ask each other questions. You know, ask your spouse questions, share your dreams and your stresses. Um, if you're sharing your stresses all the time, you know, you may need to be doing something more about that, but, you know, share your dreams and your stresses. And sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is actually listen to your spouse. What do you think ladies? Now that goes both ways. Men and women, because let's be, but let's be honest ladies, you know, God gave us way more words than he gave them, right? He did. God gave me a whole lot more words than he gives, than he gives Allen in a day. And most men hit their, if we're gonna be real, most men hit their word count by breakfast, and you know, we're just getting warmed up by lunchtime, right? Intentional communication means meeting in the middle. It's us learning to pause and listen and them, you know, maybe learning to stay in the conversation long enough for us to finish one. Grace. Grace. But when we both slowed down, really when we both slowed down and we actually listened to understand not just to reply right, or even worse, respond. Well actually re reply. Yeah. Respond or reply. But respond is actually better than reply. Isn't that what we say? That's what we say. Want, I'm not being rude here. I'm looking something up. I, I got a point here. You, yeah. You're looking, you're, I know you're looking up the prayer Jabez right now. I'm not. Oh, I thought you were. But, but that's where connection happens when we listen to understand. And that is really where, where God shows up. I'm not finding it. Well, do you want to share, um, do you want to share the next point? I do. Sorry. Sorry. I'm, uh, we'll come back to it. Squirrel. No, it's not a squirrel. It's, it's actually part of the point, but, oh, I'm, I'm a little upset with myself that I hadn't found it, so I should be like that with that. But, um, that's okay. We're all a works in progress basically, right? Mm-hmm. So it's important to support each other's growth. Yes. That's, uh. We gotta support each other. I mean, if we're, if we're not working for each other, working for and with each other, we're working against each other. Marriage isn't about holding each other back, it's about cheering each other on. That's right. You know, if your spouse feels called to something called. Just something if, if the holy really, if the Holy Spirits and, and uh, if your spouse feels called to something, don't roll your eyes. Roll up your pride and encourage them prayerfully in that direction. Mm-hmm. And I'll give you an example. Sta and Stacy isn't one, just to say that, Hey, the, the spirit's really laying it on my heart to, to. You know, buy this bag or, or, or get these shoes and that. It's, it's not that sort of thing. She doesn't flippantly throw around, throw, throw around what, uh, she doesn't flow around what, uh, what the spearhead has to say to her. But, uh, anyway, she doesn't do that flippantly. If, and what she says, you know, is if the spirit lays on a, a, a task or, or a conference mm-hmm. Uh, where she's supposed to be, he has something for her there. Yeah. And, and my. And, and knowing her relationship with the spirit and knowing, uh, her relationship with the Lord and, and, and where we are, where, where she, where we are with the Lord and, and where she is with the Lord and where we are with each other. Uh, I know that I, I I just say, Hey, if, if, if the Lord is saying this is what to do, then I have no say about that. You will come back and you will say, though, have you prayed about it? Have you prayed about it? Yes. I absolutely will do that. And sometimes I'll be like, well, I'm still praying about it. Yeah. Or Yes, I have prayed about it and this is what I am, I'm getting right. And when he knows, when you know that I. Them praying about it or that the Holy Spirit has just dropped it on me and like it's, this is like, you're doing this right. Or, and then, and most, most often I will, I'll pray about it too. Mm-hmm. And we usually align in that Yeah. In that answer because it comes to an agreement because it's the same Holy Spirit, you know? That's right. Yeah. You know, uh, but, um, so, and. To bring it back, to join prayer. You know, you got, we gotta ask him. Uh, and. Lord did, did you say this? Is this in your will? Yeah. Uh, and we join in prayer. I mean, she can pray on her own. I can pray on my own, but we're talking, joining in prayer, you know, uniting. It's about, it's about unity. Yeah. And, uh, asking him is, is this in your will? Is this in your way? And we wanna make certain that we're not setting up blockades for our own personal calling, what he's actually called us to. Yeah. Because, you know, and we've mentioned this in other podcasts, just because it's. Good doesn't mean it's God. Mm-hmm. Uh, and that brings us to. Well bAllence the callings, right? We have to bAllence our callings, right? And as, as a couple, you know, we'll, I'll speak from experience here. We'll speak from experience here as a couple who are both in ministry and in leadership. You know, depending on what your callings are, there will be times that you are in the spotlight and sometimes you'll be behind the scenes and that's okay. You know, marriage on mission isn't about. Equal visibility. It's about equal faithfulness and it should never be about my name or Allen's name, who's still looking on his phone for whatever it, I got it for whatever it is that he couldn't find, I got it. But it should never be about his name or my name. Or our name collectively, but about his, about the name of Jesus. Yes. And when one of us is leading out in front. And the other is quietly covering things in prayer or holding down the fort. I mean, both of those roles are kingdom work and both are absolutely sacred. Yes. But real leadership and real partnership isn't about being seen, it's about being synchronized. Right. And you know, like we said, just saying, I do, you know. How many, how many years ago? Almost 15. Well, 14 and a half years ago. Almost 15 years ago. It'll be 15 years in June. It'll be 15 years next year. Yes. Yeah. We just sell in June. June 24th. We just celebrated 14 years. Right. Well, I see. I'm already looking ahead. She is a visionary, but, but just saying I do didn't bring us into sync. Yeah, it took a whole lot of other things. Yeah, a whole lot of other factors. Yeah. And it took bringing God into the center of it. So real partnership is about being synchronized and we've had to learn that the hard way sometimes. Right. There have been seasons, uh, when I was up front. And I was, you know, doing whatever I was doing, bringing the word or or whatever, teaching. And Allen was the one cheering me on, you know, praying over me and making sure everything behind the scenes stayed steady. And then there are other seasons, like with Unbound, where he's leading, he's teaching ministering and he's pouring into others. And I get. I help him with that, but I also get to be the encourager and the intercessor, and both of those are acts of obedience. Absolutely. You know, marriage on mission doesn't compete, doesn't compete, it does not compete. Right. Right. And I wanna, before we move on, I, I wanted to take it back to the prayer and the, the concise prayer. Okay. And this is something I. We didn't just just find this way, but the, the Lord's Prayer, what we, what we know as the Lord's Prayer is found in, uh, Matthew chapter six, uh, starts in, in verse nine, and, and we're talking about concise prayers, and this is. When, when his disciples asked him, how do, how do we pray? How Lord, teach us how to pray? This is what Jesus says. And uh, and that's what I'm concerned with is, is what Jesus says. These red letters, this is what greatly concerns me. Mm-hmm. And this is what I want to glean from, and this is what I want to take under advisement and learn from him. And he says, pray then in this way. And, uh, and I would say as, as, as he's brought us together, I, I would, uh, he, he's brought us together when, when we decided to put him first. Uh, and that's the, uh, the whole. Was it last season? King? It doesn't matter what season it was, uh, seek first the Kingdom of God. Mm-hmm. And all these things will be given to you. It's, it's from Genesis to Revelation. God says me first. And, and in this, in this prayer, you'll see. And Jesus says, pray this way. He says, our Father who's in heaven, holy is your name. It's about Jesus. It's about, it's about the Father. It's, it's giving praise to the Father. That's, that's first. Your kingdom come, uh, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, uh, giving. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as, uh, as we also forgive our debtors, and do not lead us. Into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. And what we see here is that it, Jesus starts with praise to the Father. Mm-hmm. Our, and this is a concise prayer. It's, it's only, uh. Four. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, uh, verses long. Very short prayer. Very concise prayer. And it says it all, uh, and it puts God first. Holy is your name. It's about your, the Lord's kingdom. It's about. The Lord's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our provision give us a stare daily bread. Our provision, recognizing our provision, everything we have comes from the Lord. Forgive us our debts, our our forgiveness comes from the Lord so that we can forgive others and, uh, lead us not tempation. Our protection is from God and. And, and deliverance mm-hmm. Deliver us from evil. He's our deliverer. He is our protector. He's our forgiver, he's our provision. He's, and it's, it's all about his will, his kingdom, and his holy name. Come on. It's when we put God first and such a concise prayer, and we do just as the Savior recognized, just as the savior, uh, just as he told us. Mm-hmm. And if, if, if this is all we say at the beginning of the day, it's enough. We don't have to Babylon. Right. And we'll move on from there. All right. That's good though. That is, that is good. That's good. God, first. Right. And everything else falls into place and I am preaching to myself as it takes a, it is, it's a daily, like we mentioned earlier, it's a daily dying to self. Mm-hmm. It's a daily killing of the flesh. We're, we're new people. I'm just thinking it takes you, it takes you about an hour in the morning to die to flesh. It does. You struggle prayer and coffee, help with that. You know? Right. Any, anyway, moving on. And as she's as laughing, our, uh. Another point that I'd like to make is we gotta keep fun and humor alive. That's right. We do gotta keep fun and humor alive because, and, and, uh, and we'll like, if we can't laugh about the crap, right. You know, if we can't laugh when the hot water heater floods the garage and we can't laugh about eventually. Laugh about it when the cat claws up the new furniture. Yeah. Or, or if we can't, you know, find somewhat some bit of humor, uh, or, or Thanksgiving or, or what, when that lady runs the red light and, and causes a traffic incident. If, if we can't. Find humor and, and laugh about that. Uh, in the moment or soon thereafter, the moment we're gonna have a rough ride. Yeah. You know, we gotta understand that challenges come and go, and I am learning this. We are learning this as we go, and this is just some of the stuff that we've learned along the way. So ask yourself, are you grateful? Uh, are you grateful for each other when the going gets tough? Uh, do you understand that challenges are temporary and as challenges are temporary, we might as well enjoy each other. Through the challenges together. We're here together we're, we're here to see each other through this together. Mm-hmm. And human, uh, humor absolutely helps with that. Yeah. Uh, yeah, laughter definitely lightens the load and, you know. Unity isn't always about or isn't always built, um, in big dramatic moments like that. Um, sometimes it's just built in choosing joy together in the little things and eating late night at the Waffle House as the dust settles, which we did. I don't know what. It's been a few months ago, few months ago now. The, the everything I just mentioned, the, uh, the hot water heater flooding the garage. The cat clawing out the new furniture, the lady running the red light, and, and I, and I had her, this, these all happened to us. Yeah. And we, and we were able to within the last six months. Within the last six. This year, yeah. This year. And. I'm two and a half hours away from home. This lady runs the red light, it's in the rain, and, and the old me would've lost his mind, but, uh, as to, to no credit of to, to me, but the Christ, my walker, Christ, he really showed me how I've matured over the years and, and still also showing me how I have so far to go. But the, the point is that. Um, there was, there wasn't a whole lot of worry there. Mm-hmm. You know, at, at that incident I was on my way over to Tampa to do some training, and, and the, the truck ended up being totaled. Uh, uh, she was not happy at all. Uh uh, but it. I was able to get the, not me, the lady who ran the red light, the, the lady who ran the red light, she was not happy with me at all, but she's the one who ran the red light. And anyway, moving on from there, uh, the, the police deemed it as, and shout out to Polk County Police in Lakeland, Florida. We didn't even call'em, they were on site in three minutes. I didn't even know that. So crazy. But, um, but here I had to cancel all the training, had to reschedule everything. Mm-hmm. Had to. You know, deal with insurance companies. That's fun. Um, and, but before all that I knew I had someone to call. And here's the point, don't miss this. I knew I had someone to call and I called sta and, and, uh. There was a, there was a waiting there because, you know, I was two and a half hours away from home. Mm-hmm. And it was raining. So about three hours later she, she showed up and, and it was, it was, it was comforting to know that not only was he seeing that, that he had matured me and prepared me for this moment. Yeah. Uh, because he knew that was gonna happen. I didn't, but, but he did. And he had prepared me for that moment. Uh, to handle it well, to handle a, handle it as he's shown me how to handle it. And I, I didn't even see that coming. Uh, but my, my point is that we remained united, uh, in that, uh, in that challenge. And, uh, and man, I, I got to wait for three hours and that was. Not that bad, and I hate to wait. Uh, but when she showed up, it was, it was great. It was great because, you know, there was a time in my life I didn't have that and, uh, I would've been, you know, up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Uh, but I had someone I trust, someone that loves me enough to, you know, at nine o'clock at night, jump in the, uh, car and come and get, come and get me. Mm-hmm. And, and we were able to. You know, chuckle about it a little bit and, um, over waffles at the Waffle House, and we are on the way home and we're, we're hungry. You know, we were both kind of put out there, but we didn't, we didn't act like we were put out. We didn't act like it was a major inconvenience. Yeah. But it's how, how do we handle our challenges? Mm-hmm. And, and I'm not saying, I'm not saying we're perfect. Right. Uh, pretty far from it. As far from perfect as you, you could probably get, but, um, but close to Christ. Mm-hmm. And, and we were, so, we pulled in where, so where are we eating at? You know, I'm hungry. She's hungry, so let's, let's hit some Waffle House. It was either that or fast food. And we're not really fast food people. We're not fast foodies man, you know? But, uh. So Waffle House, it, Chipotle was, Chipotle was closed. Yeah. Chipotle. So we enjoyed, we enjoyed some chuckles, we enjoyed some conversation at Waffle House and Yeah. And, and we made and chuckled over the lady who didn't think she should have been cited for running the red light. And we made the best of it because that's, that's, yeah. Who we are. That's, and that's, and that's, and that's. To really a, again, to note in, in the sense, in the spirit of humility, there's to no credit of our own. You know? But we, but we've allowed him with our, he's, he's made our hearts pliable Yeah. To this point. So that we, so that's how we responded. Yeah. So that we couldn't look back on that. And, and it's over, you know, and I just, and I have to say, you know, where you didn't get upset, where typically you would have. In the past, you would've gotten upset. Sure. I would have been like, I don't wanna say hysterical, but I would have been like, oh my gosh, he was in an accident. Worried. Yeah. I would've been worried and I, and I expressed this to you, but I could not believe when I got the phone call, it was like the Holy Spirit had already prepared me. I knew when I got the phone call and there would have been no reason for me to. To think this, so I know it was the Holy Spirit. I knew that you'd already been in an, that you'd been in an accident before I even answered and heard your voice. Right. And that could only be the Holy Spirit. Sure. And so I wasn't upset and I wasn't, I was like, you know what, I'll be there. I'm on my way. Let me, uh, get my shoes on, jump in the car. And I took off. And. I had some people praying. I was praying on my way. Um, and I had some other people praying for the situation as well. But like, you handled it so much differently than you would have in the past. Jesus. And so did I. I it's totally Jesus. That's Jesus. It's totally Jesus. 100%. Yes. So, so we hope you enjoyed that bit of. Yeah, that little story. I'm kind of hungry for pecan waffles right now. Waffle House beef. We're, we are not gonna Waffle House. I don't even think we have one near us. Yeah. So anyways, so we're good there. We, um, so as, as we've shared our challenges with you, we have a challenge for you this week. Mm-hmm. And your challenge this week, faithfully invested listener, is that you pray together with your spouse every day this week. Mm-hmm. Seven for seven. Yes, every day this week, uh, commit to this and be consistent and watch how that simple step shifts your unity. Yeah. And we're going to join you in that challenge. Absolutely. So if you're joining us, send us a message. Uh, you can go to our website@www.faithfullyinvested.com, or you can email us at info@faithfullyinvested.com. But shoot us a message. Let us know that you're joining us in that challenge. Let us know how you're doing with that. Right. And then I would urge you too, to talk about your mission as a couple. Yeah. Ask him what. It's the kingdom impact we're supposed to make together because you weren't brought together for. Just any reason you were brought together to make a kingdom impact? Yeah. It could be raising kids who love Jesus. It could be serving at church. Maybe it's starting a business with integrity, or maybe it's just being the couple in your neighborhood who lives with joy and generosity and you do something nice for your neighbors. Yeah. Um, whatever it is. Seek the Lord's advice on that and send us a message on that too. We would love to know what is your mission. Absolutely. And I, and again. Preaching to ourselves. Don't let the business or the busyness, uh, come between you and pray and praying with you and your spouse and praying together this week. Yeah. And we, I, we're preaching to ourselves here because we have allowed the busyness to come between us. Mm-hmm. And I, and I like what Pastor Joby Martin says, he says, if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. Mm. And so you gotta, uh. We gotta take time and make time. Yeah. That's what, uh, that's what we gotta make time to get together and, and, and pray with each other. And I, and we can certainly, uh, improve on that. We are going to make time. We are making time so you can do it too. Commit. That's right. Remain consistent. Yeah. Friends, please know that we love you and we encourage you to stay faithfully invested and grow in your unity with Christ and each other. Yes. And if you're listening today as a couple, press pause after this episode and pray together right now. You know, there's no time to start like today. Important shifts start today. Important shifts start. That's right. Today, not tomorrow, today. Today. Right. So until next time, this is Allen and Stacy Jo reminding you that when we're faithfully invested, he brings the increase. He does. Take care. God bless. God bless you guys. Bye-bye. 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.