Miracle Stories

A firm foundation - Miracle Stories #29

• Wade

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In this episode we talk about miracles Wade saw in light of the Seneca SC tornado that came through April 13, 2020.  Katie and Wade use that to share about the foundation needed in our lives and in our marriages.  We hope this encourages you. To God be the glory.

SPEAKER_00

Hi you guys, welcome to episode 29 of our Miracle Stories podcast. My name is Katie, and this is my precious husband Wade. You guys, today we're gonna be sharing, I feel like one of the most important messages of this entire series. And that is really how if our foundation is on the word of God, that when the trials of life come, when the storms come, when the waves come, when things happen, then really our foundation is firm. It's not going to be shaken. And so I hope you'll be really blessed and encouraged today as you hear just a couple testimonies that we have to share that I think will really encourage and bless your heart. So I'm gonna let Wade start us out with something that happened uh back in 2022.

SPEAKER_01

20.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, 2020, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, right in the midst of the COVID situation. So um blessed to be with you in this time that we could just give God glory. And um, yeah, so we wanna I want to share um a story and then we're gonna segue that to something that actually was on Katie's heart, and uh I want to honor her in in this. So um what happened was I had the privilege and the honor of being able to be a chaplain with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and been deployed um a couple times, powerful time. We actually went to the conference out in Florida together, which was a great blessing. I've also been deployed with Samaritan's Purse, and I highly recommend anyone uh that has not been deployed or not gone to join Samaritan's Purse and what they do uh following natural disasters to go. It is amazing, um life-changing, uh the the how well it's organized, how they mobilize, and the impact that it has on the area is amazing. It's just nothing short of just the Lord's power. So highly recommend that. So I've been sent out as a what they call a blue shirt and an orange shirt. So the blue shirt is when you go as a chaplain, and I was deployed to the Seneca, South Carolina tornado um aftermath, and that took place April 13th, 2020. And so went down there, it was an they call it an EF3, it was just under an EF4, um, so it was at 160 miles per hour, and EF4 would be 166 miles an hour to see how close you could see how massive and how powerful this tornado was. And it came through Seneca, which is near Clemson, if you didn't know, came first to a place called the Borg Warner Plant, it's a massive uh plant, and there was actually a death that took place here. A security guard uh who was 77 years old, and it came up and went into the town, and uh eye-opening to see you know, roofs ripped off, trees snapped, and as we went in there, you really see love in action, people coming from all over to serve the people, to bring their heavy equipment. It's very powerful and beautiful to see the love of God in action. And I was struck by the stories that we would come across. Um, they all described it, described it as a sound of a freight train coming, and um how intense it was happened like 3:30 in the morning, so you can imagine just even that in the middle of the night. And I remember stories, and I'm gonna just show some pictures of the devastation while we're talking, but I was going house to house, we were hearing these stories of people feeling an impulse to get to a certain part of the house, and if they had not, they would have died. It was over and over those kind of stories. Or even in a room, they're moving to a different part of the room and like something flying through the window and would have it would have killed somebody. Right. So just amazing stories of intervention in that way. We were, you know, as you go out as a chaplain, you go to different houses, you go where you're assigned, and there's it's quite a number of houses, obviously. But the one, there's two that I want to draw attention to that were just a miracle story. One was uh from a woman named Helen, who was an older woman who lived alone. She was actually, you could see the Borg Warner plant from her house. So she was in the direct path of this tornado. And I can tell you, many houses were absolutely devastated that we're not even in the direct path. So here's this woman in the direct path from the plant, and all by herself, and she was a dear believer, and she she was reading Psalm 91 and praying that out over herself and over her home.

SPEAKER_03

Was she all alone?

SPEAKER_01

All alone. So I'll actually, in a moment, I want Katie to read Psalm 91 so you can hear this powerful promise concerning God's protection and her putting her faith on the word of God to shield her from this literal storm and massive, powerful storm of a tornado. When we came to her house and we were we had we rejoiced in the Lord together for her protection, everything, friend. Let me tell you, okay? All these big trees, and I have some pictures, I wish I I wish I done would have done better in my documentation, but uh you can see at least a couple. All of these bigger trees fell away from her house.

SPEAKER_00

That's amazing. Like in different directions.

SPEAKER_01

Like they were like just like the one, yeah, away from the house. So even even though the storm would have made sense for it to blow in one direction, or even a tornado where there's chaos and you're not sure where it's gonna go, they all fell away from the house. And I don't think there was a single shingle removed from the roof of her house. How how do you explain that in the direct path? And you can see where it went over the hill, and then and you could say, well, it looked, it picked up and it went touched back down. Whatever you want to say, it was miraculous. Um, and her house was one of the only ones that was not devastated, but not even we could see a single shingle removed. Then and we prayed with her, and she encouraged us, I think, more than we encouraged her. She was just uh a bright shining light for the Lord, and then we went down to we would to other places, went down to another area where there was two trailers side by side, and the one trailer was moved off of its foundation. The one right next to it, I'm talking about within 20 to 30 feet. Wow, that one was not touched and was in that place. When we went into the one that was not touched, guess what's guess which psalm that person was reading out loud and praying over his life? Psalm 91. The other one uh was not. And I and I'm not saying that um it's some kind of a, we're not saying it's some kind of a magic formula, but it is that direct evidence of the power of the word of God. And so I just wanted Katie to be able just to read this and uh to give glory to God, and we pray that this was to be a prayer in your life as well.

SPEAKER_00

Psalm 91. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the air that flies by day, nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, thine ten thousand at thy right hand. But it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh their dwelling, for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet, because he has set his love upon me. Therefore will I deliver him, I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him, and with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.

SPEAKER_01

So this was the psalm that they were praying over and over again as this tornado ripped through, and it was a miracle. If you I mean, I will show the one picture that you can be able to get an idea, but if you would see the path of destruction and how those two homes were absolutely miraculously preserved, you would see just what a miracle it was. There were other things that happened. I mean, the greatest miracle was watching and seeing someone surrender to Christ in that deployment. And then we also got to see a physical healing. There was a woman uh crippled on her porch. We came up and she was taking in with sobriety and a somberness the devastation that had taken place on her property. But she was crippled, um, not able to stand up without pain or stand straight up and uh prayed over her in the name of Jesus. And the power of God went through her body and she started crying, and she was pain-free and was able to stand up without pain. But the greater miracle I wanted to draw attention to was the storm and how God preserved um these two homes and those that were inside. And so as I was sharing that, it segue to something that was on your heart.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, this is gonna be a quite a departure from the other subject, but you know, just Wade and I are bringing this uh miracle stories series to a close soon. We just have one more episode that is on our hearts after this one. But as we were um prayerfully thinking through what subject we really wanted to make sure we addressed prior to this whole series being closed out, the one that was really burning on my heart um was marriage. Because we have seen the goodness of God, we have seen miracles in our marriage over the years. We have seen God's faithfulness, and one thing I have observed um that has made my heart really sad and Wade's heart really sad over the years is just so many marriages that aren't thriving and people who give up on marriage, um, people who throw in the towel too quick. I'm I'm now 52 years old, um older woman, and Wade and I have been married for 29 years. And so we can say through almost three decades together that there's been years that have been amazing, and there's been years that have been really hard. And I think that if you talk to any married couple who's been married for, you know, 10 years or more, they're gonna tell you the same thing, right? There's some years that are hard and some years that are wonderful. Marriage is a marathon, not a sprint, right? It is you you have to look far off into the distance. You know, I look at Wade and I think to myself, this is the man that I'm gonna throw that that is gonna be with me when I die. Lord willing. This is gonna be the one who will lead me to Jesus. I'm sorry, that makes me too. I can just see it so vividly, Wade. Hang on. You know, my mother-in-law, who is probably one of my biggest um marriage mentors and inspirations. Sorry, I'm getting a little choked up to think about this. Because I think this topic is very close to the heart of God. Because our marriages are the one thing God's word says are to reflect Christ and the church. Which, if you think about that, it's such a higher calling, really, than any other relationship in your life. Um, outside of your relationship with Christ. And so my mother-in-law, Linda McCarg, who if everyone who knows her used to just say she was like an angel on this earth, so precious and so wise. And you know, my mother and father-in-law, Fred and Linda, did not always have the easiest time in their marriage, you know. In the end, it became this beautiful picture of Christ in the church, right? But there was years in the beginning that were not easy. And I love mom because she always used to tell me as a young bride, she used to say, Katie, marriage is a marathon, not a sprint. And she always used the example of the Garmin. Back in the old days, people used to have garments in their car that would reroute. Now we have Siri, right? Where they if you maybe perhaps you're off on a different path. Maybe perhaps you guys uh make a maybe your husband makes a bad decision or you're arguing about something or you can't come to terms with something, you can always reroute. Just reroute, right? Just um, it's okay. It's a marathon, not a sprint. In other words, my final destination, my goal in my heart, is that I will be with this man until the day that I die. Or until he dies, God forbid. And um, that's how I feel. I'm sorry, I'm getting so emotional. I can't help but wait. Maybe you ought to take over.

SPEAKER_01

Alright, so we can segue back in.

SPEAKER_00

Can I get a tissue? I need to get a tissue. I can't think about you dying and not cry.

SPEAKER_04

It's so awful.

SPEAKER_00

Please, Lloyd, don't let that happen. So I just wanted to share, you guys. Um, I think it was well, definitely in the first decade of our marriage, of our marriage, Wade and I um how should I say this? We didn't always have a meeting of the minds. And and so when you guys have been watching, anyone who's been following or tracking with us these 29 episodes, perhaps you're getting the impression that, oh well, these people just have the perfect marriage, the perfect family, the perfect whatever. And I just I want to burst that bubble a little bit today for the glory of God, because actually my husband and I are very different people. And actually, when we got married, I don't think you could have probably God probably couldn't have called two totally opposite people together. I mean, my from family background to temperament to you know just basically everything. On the Myers Briggs, we were complete opposites, right? In every single category. But yet God called us together. And God, if anyone who hasn't watched our love story, you can find that on our YouTube channel. It's not part of the Miracle Stories podcast, but it's on our YouTube channel, Wade and Kate. And I'd love for you to watch um our love story, how God supernaturally did miraculously call us together.

SPEAKER_01

It's titled Our YWM Love Story.

SPEAKER_00

Our YWM Love Story. So please go ahead and watch that because I think you'll be encouraged. But it is pretty remarkable when I look back and think, well, God chose two totally different people who thought different and felt differently, like who responded to things differently to be together. And so we had a lot of things to work through. And um, the things that I learned that were modeled to me from my parents were not probably the healthiest ways of dealing with conflict. And so when I came into the marriage, I came broken, and you know, we need to have a lot of grace. So when we were called to be missionaries, we ended up on the mission field, and it was hard. I mean, we were in Muslim country, we were in no air conditioning, like out in the middle of nowhere, being terrible at the language, like it was just it was really hard. So anyone who's heard our podcast has kind of tracked, maybe perhaps along with some of the things that we have walked through, but that didn't present the whole picture. I mean, just the daily life of living um in the bush of West Africa, it's a it's a lot. And so there was persecution, there was real sickness, there was real struggle. Um, and our temperaments are very different in how we deal with things. I don't transition well. I'm not a good person to, I never have embraced change easily, right, Wade. Even to this day, like I still do not embrace change easily. And Wade does. I'm sorry, I'm getting really emotional for some reason. Um but you can see this is a subject really close to my heart. So all of that to say, I think it was, was it year nine or eight, sweetie? Um that we started having year seven. Okay, so at year seven, I'm not gonna go into all the details, but Wade and I had gotten to a place that was a really bad place in our marriage. We um had two children.

SPEAKER_01

Um there yeah, there was just a lot of warfare, a lot of components in being in a country that's um predominantly hostile to what you're there to do. And in that process, um, I think, you know, with all of it happened from village life to city life to language learning to the impact it had on our children to be in that stressful environment, to be separated from us, or in language learning, all those things were tremendous factors that caused, you know, you to have a hesitation to say, I'm not sure I want to go back. And I was burning to go forward uh into another area and to even a bigger need, um, which at that time was the largest unreached people group of West Africa. So there were all these factors that were bringing that stress, and Katie was not wanting to go back, and uh, we were at a place for me where what's our calling, and yet I know she was fighting for the health of our family, and we just got to a place that was a complete impasse. And there were other things from our background, I think, that were coming up. Um, we don't realize how impactful our upbringing is, and all those factors sometimes can be somewhat dormant even and then come out later on.

SPEAKER_02

Sure, sure.

SPEAKER_01

And so you add a lot of stress, and then you have where you can respond more in a place of uh emotion than truth and what the Holy Spirit is is speaking. And so we were at a really, really difficult place, and uh in that time um the Lord broke through through fasting and prayer. And as we were praying, as I was praying specifically, I heard the Lord speak to me very clearly and say to me, Son, is not my word enough. And I remediated immediately responded to say, Yes, Lord, it is. And I remember he said to me, You're acting like it's not. And I said, What do you mean, Lord? And I heard him very clearly I don't always hear God this clearly, but I heard it that clearly in that moment of deep a deep valley and a deep trial. He said, I want you to read. To her, the three main passages concerning your responsibility as a husband to her. And he told me to read Ephesians 5, the three main passages, Ephesians 5, 22, and on to the end. Colossians 3, just a couple of verses there about husbands and wives in 1 Peter 3, verse 1 through 7. As I um received this, he told me, he said, You're gonna read these out loud, your responsibility as a husband to her, my word, and you're gonna pray these attributes and these characteristics into your life in her presence. Yeah. And then she's gonna do the same to read her responsibility as a wife and to pray those into her. And he told me, he said, you can bless her, but you're not to pray for her.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And pray for yourself, he said. And I I believe the Lord spoke to me a 30-day challenge to do this every single day. And we were really at a point even past frustration and anger to almost indifference or apathy. It was a very bad place to be.

SPEAKER_00

We just were not getting along.

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_00

Not at all. We didn't really even enjoy being around each other.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and and this is again, this is not like from the beginning. This is just this was a specific season, a specific time when all this kind of came to a head. But it wasn't like that for the first seven years. No, no. We had wonderful memories.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

But this this was a great trial. This was a great furnace that we were in. And we were realizing there were old patterns, old mindsets coming up. Absolutely. And so I heard the Lord say that, and you um said, Let's let's do this.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Here's the thing, I think we'd that too many marriages at that point give up. That's when they throw the talon. You know, and we've seen this over and over and over. Like it's pretty normal for every marriage, I think, to go through at least one period of crisis, you know.

SPEAKER_01

So we began to read these passages, and I can say, we can both say that for the first almost three weeks it was just really out of obedience and not so much as feeling. But around day 21, as we just let the word of God do what it does. The word of God says in Hebrews 4, it's living and active. Yes, it's sharper than any double-edged sword. It's able to divide between the soul and the spirit, to join in the marrow, and to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And we don't understand, we don't realize how much of our own view can cloud the God's original intention. And we we read into it, we think we know what this means, and we really need the Holy Spirit, who is the one who inspired the people that wrote the Bible, to be the one that opens our eyes to its real significance. We can think we know what love is, we can think we know what submission is, but the Holy Spirit, He is the third person of the Godhead, and He brings the truth to life, and He does a work in us of sanctification where we live the Word, and it's not something we just read, it actually is becoming experienced. And so as we read it, uh the Lord began to change us through his word, renewing our minds, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing revelation and a supernatural change of the heart. And so around day 21, we both experienced a supernatural encounter where the love of God was infused in both of our hearts, something shifted, something changed in our hearts, a whole new uh understanding of the word being lived out, and the grace to go forward. It was a comp it was supernatural. It was it was supernatural, and we we end up finishing the full 30 days, but that was the game changer, and everything began to change after that, and um we were ready to go back overseas uh on that great foundation. And I wanted you, if you could just read even that passage that I know is familiar, but it's very obviously very much applicable to what I just shared about the Seneca tornado and what we just shared for this first point concerning a firm foundation.

SPEAKER_00

So Matthew 7, 24 through 27 says, Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which has built his house on a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened to a foolish man which built his house upon sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

SPEAKER_01

Jesus says what that foundation is. He said, He that hears my word, and he that does them, is the one who built is like this man who built his house in the rock. And so the word is the rock. But as you read, the wise man and the foolish man, they both had the wind and the flood and the rains come. Trials and tribulation, all those things that can come are impartial. They come to both couples and both people, but there's one that will remain and one that will stand. And so we want to exhort you, encourage you with our testimony that the word changes us, it changes our minds, it changes our hearts with the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray it into your life and watch what God does.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And we are witnesses of that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it actually felt super natural because I think a lot of people they can go round and round and round and round, not agreeing with each other, not seeing things from each other's perspective. But when we just stopped trying to change, when I stopped trying to change Wade, and Wade stopped trying to change me, and we just very simply before God took responsibility for ourselves and asked God, God, what are you asking of me? Like, not Wade, not Wade asking for me, Wade asking for Wade. Wade is saying, God, how am I supposed to treat Katie? And then him in my presence, reading out loud, God's words, God's command to him, he'd read that to me every night without much, without any commentary, without anything, nothing. Literally, we would just read it out loud in each other's presence. I would read my God's admonition to women, to married wives, right? I would read that out loud in Wade's presence and then take responsibility and let the word speak for itself.

SPEAKER_01

We would bless each other.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and we would bless each other, but like not pray for each other. It wasn't like, oh God, you know, like change Wade. Help him, Lord, to love me. Lord, it wasn't like that. No. It was me praying for myself. You know, God help me to obey your word. And something supernatural happened.

SPEAKER_01

Um I think it's a demonstration of humility. If it you're always praying for the other person, there's a pride there, and you're not focusing, like you said, on yourself. Yeah. Whereas you're saying, Lord, deal with me. I humble myself. Yes. I'm gonna bless you, but I'm gonna focus. That's God honors that, that's where grace is poured out.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, for sure. Um because marriage is obviously a two-way street. I will want to just say um there's always hope, always hope. You know, um, I really believe that too many marriages never ever get past the hard point, they just give up. But you can do it, like really and truly, with Jesus helping you, um, with the word as your guide, you guys can do it. I wanted to bring that exhortation to you guys today. So there were a few things that Wade and I wanted to say in this episode to speak to marriage, just because we have felt um, I would say almost like the miraculous grace of God in our life throughout these last 29 years.

SPEAKER_01

Um the second one corresponds with this one that's what we we've already mentioned. We wanted just to kind of say it as a second point, and that is is prayer in general, because you know, the old saying, the old adage is so true. The family that prays together stays together. Why? Because prayer is an act of humility, it is humbling ourselves, asking for God's help. But also prayer is very powerful because there's something about it that allows us to articulate our hearts to the Father in each other's presence. It should be a safe place, it should be a place where we can express our hearts. And I I get to hear Katie's heart most clearly, I believe through prayer, and she can hear my heart more most clearly through prayer. And so we would say prayer is really foundational as well, being intentional at that time, right?

SPEAKER_00

Right. I mean, statistics show that couples who pray together rarely, rarely ever get divorced. So it is it's a hard and fast and true principle. Amen.

SPEAKER_01

And and I I would say just to dovetail off of that, there is real spiritual warfare. Um we could I remember when I was a part of Promise Keepers way back in the day, and there was a testimony of a Promise Keeper leader flying on an airplane next to a guy. This is a true account where the guy passed up the meal ping past to be eaten, and and out of curiosity, this Christian leader said, Hey, I'm just curious, why aren't you eating? And the guy said, I'm fasting.

SPEAKER_02

That's right.

SPEAKER_01

And uh he said, Well, you know, why are you fasting? And the guy said, I'm from the church of Satan, and I'm fasting for the destruction of Christian families.

SPEAKER_00

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01

And he was dead serious, there was no joking. Um, that's just a window that sometimes I believe the Lord allows to see how intentional, how aggressive the enemy is. If you look at um uh the well-known founder really of modern-day Satanism, Alistair Crowley, who was the mentor to Anton LeVay, who started the Church of Satan, uh, there's real warfare. It's amazing how ignorant a lot of even Christians are concerning how real this war is. So um Alistair Crowley said the number one enemy for a satanic revolution for the new eon that he wanted to bring in was the Christian family, um, the biblical marriage. And so he did everything to try to promote that which would come against what God ordained as a husband and a wife being married, and to twist that and to pervert it so that's to just to bring in the satanic revolution. And so it's real warfare. The enemy doesn't want a marriage because, as Katie said, it's actually a display of Christ in the church, it actually manifests the character and the will of God, and um it's real warfare. And so when you pray, you there's a protection that comes with that. And you're you remain vigilant, just like Peter said, that the enemy prowls around like a roaring line, seeking whom he may devour. He's he's actively doing that. And uh how what does Peter say? Be sober and be vigilant. How are you sober and vigilant? Well, exactly what his master taught him. Jesus said, Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation. And so prayer is key. It keeps us vigilant, it keeps us aware of tactics of the enemy. And and so that that kind of segues to the next point. Um, what is one of the tactics of the enemy? Well, it says that in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, I believe it's verse 21, Paul says we're not ignorant of the enemy's, the devil's wiles or schemes, and the context is unforgiveness.

SPEAKER_00

That's right.

SPEAKER_01

And so we would say that is key for marriage.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh, absolutely. You know, whenever Wade and I disagree, especially in the early days, thankfully I don't have to do this very often anymore. But you know, back in the early days, Wade would sometimes do things and maybe they would hurt me. Or I would feel like his words were sharp or his demeanor was you know not kind or whatever. But ultimately, by the grace of God, um, I got this mindset that I was not gonna let unforgiveness and bitterness to creep into our marriage or my heart. And so my practice throughout our marriage has been to get on my knees before the Lord, and first and foremost, before the Lord, forgive Wade. Even before I probably told him that. I'll probably just say, Lord, I I forgive him. And um, this is what your son did, this is what he said, and um and I'm sure Wade has had these conversations too. This is what Katie has done, this is what she said, and um, I'm sure Wade has also said to the Lord, I forgive her, you know, because of course we're human, right? And but then my next step is Jesus, thank you for my husband who is so precious. Thank you that I know that he loves you. Thank you that he's a man of your word. Thank you that he seeks to honor you. Thank you that you know, and I will go down a list in my mind of dozens of things that I love about Wade. And and sometimes I'll have to rehearse that over and over and over before the Lord because it does something to my heart, right? It doesn't allow me to have a root of bitterness creep in. And by the grace of God, I think you my husband probably could testify, I don't hold on to things. I mean, wouldn't you say?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and that's biblical. I mean, the Bible says, again, it's talking about spiritual warfare. Yeah, don't let the sun go down on your wrath, don't give place to the devil. So if you continue to let the sun going down, don't be surprised if you're opening a door for the enemy to come and attack your life. So I yeah, I always I honor you that you you don't hold on to things you you forgive and let it go.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I think that um where I see a lot of young marriages that we're involved in counseling young marriages sometimes from time to time. And a lot of times I see those people that want to just keep on poking the bear, right? They just want to keep on like just bringing it up, bringing it up, bringing it up, bringing it up. And honestly, I feel like those are the marriages that just struggle the most. You know, I don't advise that. I think it's just um there's a time and a place to discuss, perhaps, you know, when heads are cool and collected, but um, just to continue to just poke and poke and poke, no, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and that's one of the verses, Colossians 3, it says, Husbands, do not be bitter against your wives. And that's the work that God puts in us to forgive when we've been when we've been wronged. I mean, I've I quote this a lot of times. Billy Graham was asked, you know, what is the secret of his marriage with Ruth Bell after all those decades? And he said, I can sum it up in one word, forgiveness. It's interesting, Ruth Bell also said something very similar. She said, marriage is uh two good forgivers. And so I can I can imagine the warfare that they went through, you know, with the level of ministry, but they understood that a foundational element was forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00

Of course, I want you to know, like, Wade and I are not saying, like, if you're being abused, right? Like, that is not that is a different story. If your husband is asking you to do things that are just contrary to God's word, that are disgusting to you, that is another story. That's not what we're talking about here. So, just to clarify, for those that are in our listening audience.

SPEAKER_01

Glad you said that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So um the issue of forgiveness is is huge. And uh, as Katie said, for me, I will just say that there is always and should be a healthy fear of God in this area. Um, and I encourage anyone to really meditate on Matthew 18 about what Jesus says about forgiveness when Peter is asking this question, because it's very sobering. Um, it's not a cushy, nice message. It is it is a clear warning if you do not forgive what happens. Uh Jesus is very clear. You will be handed over to the tormentors. He's speaking to his disciples. That's that's demonic activity, the tormentors. And he says, So will my heavenly father do to you if you do not forgive men from your heart. He says in other place, if you don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive you yours. Many times he's teaching that it's in the context of prayer. So if you think that you can pray and continue to hear be heard by God and hold on to unforgiveness or bitterness, you are gravely mistaken and you are deceived. Uh you will you have cut off relationship with God if you continue to hold on to what the Bible says, the hundred deneri compared to the ten thousand talents. So there is um there is an absolute healthy fear of the Lord that I would be quick to forgive Katie or she, me. Because why? Because we have been free, we have been forgiven. And uh we we are in no right to withhold, as Jesus addresses that parable, uh, to the one who will not forgive. I think so. Forgiveness is absolutely key in a marriage. Don't let the root of bitterness get into your marriage. Um, it will wreak havoc and many will be defiled through it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So um I think the next one that we uh would think about was kingdom consciousness. Um Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything will be added to you.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You know, what are we living for? That's true. Are we living for a job for the American dream?

SPEAKER_00

For a designer handbag or luxury clothes or the newest Botox fillers and materialism, whatever you've got worldliness.

SPEAKER_01

You know, what are we living for?

SPEAKER_00

No.

SPEAKER_01

If you're living for that stuff, it's gonna be a dead end, it's gonna be so shallow. It's you know, you're growing old and just wanting more stuff, um it will never satisfy. Any any amount of stuff will never satisfy, and uh, and it's it might be like a nice little um oh, this is a happy moment where I get to go out and shop or do this, that, and the other, but that's your main focus. That's so shallow and short-lived. And uh the real thing is what am I living for?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I do feel like just having a kingdom focus in a marriage brings so much uh purpose, you know, purpose to both of us. Like I feel like um the fact that Wade and I have always been on mission with God and with each other has given our marriage, has it it's infused our marriage, I think, with life throughout every season of our marriage because we always have something else we're anticipating or praying toward or working toward that is outside of us, that is outside of just playing golf while we get old or you know, whatever. Um, and so I do feel like that just keeps our hearts um infused with life and purpose and meaning. Working together, working together, yeah. And um, yeah, I think that this is I can just only speak for our marriage, but our marriage, we've been um more relationship focused and stuff focused, you know. We've we've invested a lot of people and people around us, and um that's what we love to do, and and for us, that has brought brought a lot of love and meaning into our life. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I one of the things I say is look at our memories. Like I believe God placed this kind of capability of highlighting in our mind our past to bring out what's more important in life. And when you really look at your memories, the ones that you cherish, the ones that mean the most to you, they're not a role revolver around stuff, they're revolving around people, moments and experiences you have with somebody, um relationships, friendships, family, those are the things that are the most significant, and so if that's our focus, that's gonna be revealing in the end. I mean, that's Charles Dickens, right? Christmas Carol. Right.

SPEAKER_00

Well, we have our all of eternity, right? To be comfortable and happy and at peace without any. But right now, like on earth, we just have one life to live. And so I think let's make it count. Let's all make it count. You know, why don't you and your husband, even today, just get on your knees together and say, God, help us to live really well for eternity with eternity in our hearts and our mindset. Let us live out this life, God, building your kingdom together.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and and watch as you step out of the boat, do something you haven't done before together uh with the work of God, and it's so amazing to see the glory of God together, to be on mission with God. You know, we've gotten to see just little things, you know, some things with us together. We've shared some of them. On these podcasts, and there's nothing that will compare to seeing God's glory uh for compared to something material, something that's just so temporary. So it's awesome and it's worth it. Um I think another thing that we wanted just to also address is kind of tied to spiritual warfare, but it can be also really connected to the flesh and the world is beware of thieves. Um Song of Solomon is a great book to read, to meditate on, to pray into each other's lives. And there's a there's a verse in there that says, Don't let the fox, the little foxes, you know, trample in your in the vineyard. And there's things that can come in that can um may seem small to you, but they will destroy your marriage. One of them, of course, as we said is unforgiveness. But I think that a one that we're seeing more and more addressed in and it's coming out now with this whole cover culture thing in the church, um, is how much is connected to the secret sin of pornography.

unknown

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01

This is an abomination that has wreaked havoc, and it's um a dragon, so to say, that needs its head cut off. And for men, I'm speaking specifically to you. I know there is an issue with women, but it's much more common with men that you need to deal violently with this. Stop playing with it. It doesn't say that in scripture. It says, if your eye offends you, pluck it out, if your hand offends you, cut it off. Um, you need to see how serious this is. Flee, youthful lust. Get away. And also be equipped. Jesus showed us, of course, when he was tempted with the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. That he said, It is written. And he spoke the word of God, and the sword of the spirit came out of his mouth, and there was victory. The word of God is the key. Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. How can a young man keep his way clean? Psalm 119, verse 9 says, But by keeping according to your word. First John talks about how the young men, you overcome the evil one. How? Because the word of God abides in you. It's the word of God that gives us victory. And so this has to be cut off. Our gaze has got to be on the word and on the Lord, and stop believing the lie of sexual immorality as something that's going to satisfy you. It will never satisfy you. It is a pit, and you need to renounce it, and you need to look to the Lord, and He will deliver you. He is a deliverer, He's a healer, He is a one that can change your mind, and that's my testimony. In fact, uh you had brought up the recent interview that I so if you if you want to hear my testimony, and also we recommend this podcast called Liberator, uh, with uh Leighton and Chelsea, um, who have an entire podcast on marriage, and uh, I've been I'm blessed to see what you know what how um they're doing that for the glory of God. They have their own powerful testimony, but they interviewed me, and you can hear um the reality of deliverance, a reality of having your mind renewed on that. It's called Liberator Podcast. If you look up my name on it, you'll see that interview. But look up all their stuff and look and see um be equipped in your marriage in that way.

SPEAKER_00

So you know, I do think it's possible, you guys. Um when I married Wade 29 years ago, I thought he was the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life. And I can honestly say that now, 29 years later, I think he's more handsome, um grayer, some more wrinkles, but to me he has become more appealing, you know, because I love his heart and him. I'm sorry, I get so emotional, I don't know why. But you know, it's true, and that's just the work of the Holy Spirit, you know. I think that even as you age, you can become more and more and more in love with each other. You guys, I'm so sorry that this episode, I I'm feeling so emotional throughout it, but I have truly felt the goodness of God in my marriage.

SPEAKER_01

Amen.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you, honey.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm thinking to the Song of Solomon again. One of the things you'll notice about the Song of Solomon is the husband compliments his wife from head to foot. And there is a declaration, my eyes are for you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

My eyes are for you.

SPEAKER_00

Obviously, there's always gonna be somebody better looking in the world or whatever, but but you choose.

SPEAKER_01

You choose.

SPEAKER_00

You choose what you're you fix your eyes on and your heart on. And I believe that like like Wade has become like the object of my desire and my heart, and vice versa. And so that is so precious and beautiful, like that is exactly what God would want. And what he honors, yeah, and what he honors, and so we can testify to feeling that tremendous grace. Thank you, honey. I know it's really sad, you guys. I keep crying throughout this episode, but you guys, I just feel like marriages in general in our country are so under attack, and in the church, with the divorce rate being at 50%, about or more, and the church isn't much better. And um, man, you guys, let's do better, right? Let's really like just God is faithful, his word is faithful, right? Like, just make a covenant with your eyes, right? To really just be satisfied with whom God has given you and um to fix your mind on the word and to just be renewing it. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, God will honor that.

SPEAKER_00

God is definitely gonna honor that. We can testify to that.

SPEAKER_01

Amen. And and um real fulfilling intimacy, not a fake, fleshly, short-lived thing that will just will actually sometimes probably even live you leave you emptier. Praise God when the Lord is in the midst of your marriage. Honor that, protect it, fight for it. It's worth it. We are here to testify, it's worth it. It's worth it. So don't believe a lie of the enemy. Don't believe that, and we we just want to encourage you, like be careful, little eyes, what you see. The father above is watching. It doesn't have to be even what in your mind is think something that's extreme. It's things that are little foxes. It can be things that just lead and kind of uh encourage the next step. Don't let that in your home. Don't let that in your heart. Cut it off. As we said earlier, Jesus says, watch and pray lest you fall into temptation. He's even saying he's fall into sin. Even temptation. You can be in a place where you can see that thing from a distance and say, I don't want anything to even do with that, even the temptation of it. The Lord wants us in a place of freedom and victory and joy and peace. And that's what we can testify. We we one of the greatest compliments we get, right, when people come into our home is either I feel the presence of God or I feel so much peace in this home. It's so worth it.

SPEAKER_00

It's so worth it. I was gonna say my pastor back, but when I was a single woman, used to say, the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence. The grass is greener where you water it. And I do feel like that's such good marriage advice. You know, of course, the there could be a more beautiful or more precious or more handsome or more rich or whatever man or woman somewhere else. But it doesn't matter. Your grass is gonna be the greenest where you invest and you water and you nurture. And I always say, um, you know, sometimes women will come to me and they'll be discouraged. Their husbands are maybe they're just not living up to the potential that they should. But I always say, you know, speak to that potential, right? You just gotta, with your mouth, you keep affirming almost what you want to see. Like, you know, you keep speaking to the prince in that man. Um, because I believe he'll raise up to that standard. I really believe. Like, as you as your man keeps hearing you say these amazing things that you see in him, you know, I think it almost like it happens, it just begins to happen.

SPEAKER_01

And I I will I'll say one more thing this there's so much power um in the brotherhood.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, true.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, when you get a bunch of you have brothers who are seeking the face of God together and you get in the presence of God, uh, first of all, we should be experiencing our own prayer time. But even with brothers collectively, um and sisters, and sisters, yeah, it's exactly that there's there's an empowerment, there's a renewal, and you know what is real and what's the counterfeit, and you want nothing to do with the counterfeit. Brothers to hold you accountable, yeah, or pray for each other, pray for each other, you know, but God's called us to freedom, and the freedom is real, and um man, it's so much better. We we have many testimonies we could share of the devastation of porn, and um yeah, we could it's heart-wrenching.

SPEAKER_00

It's heart-wrenching and broken hearted leaves people in a broken-hearted wreck, and the children after it devastating without respect. So trust me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, don't don't don't let don't let it emasculate you. I mean, rise up, oh man of God, and and cut it off of your life and don't look back. Don't look back. Keep your eyes on Jesus, keep your eyes in the word, get around brothers, seek the face of God, and watch as God fills your life with his presence, the fruit of the spirit, and all of the goodness that he is and who he is. He's the father of lights, with whom you know is no shifting shadow, and and every good and perfect gift comes from him. And that's what he wants. He wants He wants marriage to be so powerful. It's not good for man to be alone. He no he he thought of it, and it's it's good in his eyes. Yeah, amen.

SPEAKER_03

Amen.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, we we thought of just a few more just to to address. I think little acts of service go a long way. Yeah, you know, we sometimes we can think of it as grandiose, you know, I should be doing something big, that but it can be just the little acts of service that even as Jesus says, don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. You know, just doing it unto him to serve your wife, um, that is very powerful and very meaningful. And I I and and and I believe as we're praying for our spouse, um, like Katie, you had said, like, I'm not here to change my spouse. Like the Lord changes them. That's right. I love them. And uh we had also taught, yeah. So just just speak to that act of little services.

SPEAKER_00

I don't think anything needs to be more said about that, but yeah, look for ways to serve quietly and obtrusively. You don't have to, your husband, you don't have to have a banner out talking about what you did, you know. But I think consistent acts of selflessness without expectation of something in return. Yeah. It's it adds up over the years, over the weeks, over the months, right? It adds up to present just wow.

SPEAKER_01

And the Lord honors it.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely, and do it for the Lord, and that's the main thing I think is we serve Jesus first and foremost, right? We choose to respect our husbands for Christ's sake. Even maybe he doesn't deserve it. You know? Maybe he hasn't done anything back in return. It doesn't matter. We do it for Jesus' sake. And so God rewards, you know, God rewards.

SPEAKER_01

And I think that segues to the next thing we were talking about, um, and that is an atmosphere of appreciation. Um, just be thankful. Don't take your spouse for granted.

SPEAKER_03

For sure.

SPEAKER_01

Show your appreciation of what they mean to you and say that, you know, I like we need to articulate it more. Uh sometimes we can think I can think it many times. Like, I'm so thankful. Like Katie does this, I'm so thankful. But you know, the way she serves or the way you know she provide the provides a great meal for our family every day, you know, or whatever it is. But it's good to also say it out loud, um, to say thank you. And I really appreciate our kids growing up. They again, I have to model it, right? And so I I love when I they would say thank you, mom. You know, thanks for for dinner tonight, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Or they they thank her for something else. But that atmosphere of appreciation is really contagious. Yeah, it is, and it's very it's very much needed that we do not take each other for granted.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. I I in our marriage it's very lopsided because honestly, Wade does a lot more for me than I do for him.

SPEAKER_01

That's what she thinks, actually.

SPEAKER_00

That's true, you guys. That is true because I have a brain injury and he has to drive me. I'm sorry, I'm getting a boy shock. Maybe you can add it to this out.

SPEAKER_01

No, I mean it's just I think I you know it's it's hard because I think that's something you could address as far as also, yes. When we when we married, when you marry, yeah, you're making a vow. There's a covenant.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And um you have to be very careful with that word. I only see it two times in scripture.

SPEAKER_00

That's exactly that's a good point.

SPEAKER_01

You can you can prove me wrong, but I only see it in in relation to God. That's right, in relation to your spouse.

SPEAKER_03

That's it.

SPEAKER_01

I don't see anywhere else. That's right. And so the word is a very sacred, holy word, and um, and your spouse has a very special relationship compared to anyone on on the earth. And so the the the aspect of that covenant we make in sickness and in health, we we really that's where premarital counseling comes in. Yeah, you understand the significance of this commitment? Like you could face something.

SPEAKER_00

You could, just like we have, just like we have.

SPEAKER_01

And I think that's where the fiery trial comes to reveal the authenticity of your love for each other. And there was a stroke there was a long period of time, to be quite frank and honest, when Kate had her brain injury.

SPEAKER_00

I could do nothing.

SPEAKER_01

She could do nothing.

SPEAKER_00

She physically could do nothing.

SPEAKER_01

Like she she there there was no intimacy, you know, for that period of time. And that doesn't that that that's not what a relationship is built upon.

SPEAKER_00

No.

SPEAKER_01

Our relationship is built upon our love for each other. That that's a small component.

SPEAKER_00

But as soon as I could.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but but the point is, is like, why would I be looking someplace else for that need to be met? My my my total satisfaction, your total satisfaction, is in the Lord. It's in it's in the Lord. And then from that, we are able to love each other with the love of Christ, and we find our all in him. We talked about an atmosphere of appreciation, and then just the power of the spoken blessing, being intentional with that, speaking blessings out on each other, be being careful of words like always and never, right, right, right, which are really can be like word curses. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You never always do this, or you never do this. Yeah, it's not an acceptable thing to be saying.

SPEAKER_01

It's not true.

SPEAKER_00

Because it's not true. That is, I'm sorry to say, but that is always a lie. Yeah. You know? Except for in that sentence, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Guard your heart against things like saying, always you, always, you know. Just be intentional to, as Katie said, focus on the good, focus on, and the Lord can ask the Lord to reveal it. You'll be amazed how much he'll reveal to you of the good qualities in your spouse. And it's so amazing how the weakness of our flesh, or even something that is uh demonic, can try to remove memories or the good qualities of your spouse and just focus on one or two things and make that molehill into a mountain. So ask the Lord, reveal to me, Lord, give me your eyes, give me your heart, let me see my spouse as the way you see them. Yeah, and it'll be amazing. You'll see as God opens your eyes, and you'll come more and more to a deep appreciation of love for that for that person. I actually, as I'm saying that, I'm thinking about the testimony of a guy named John Hyde, they call him Praying Hyde. And the guy, it's if you ever get a chance to read about him, or he was an amazing prayer warrior, so amazing, supernatural, miraculous things in his life. And one of his testimonies was he went up to pray to the Lord about another fellow minister and was complaining about him. And uh, as he was complaining to the Lord about him, he heard the Lord's strong rebuke. He said that the fear of God came upon him, and he said, Do not touch the apple of my eye, basically. And the Lord began to show him all of the ways that this guy had sacrificed himself for the work of the Lord and the different ways that God had uh was used him to bring glory to his name. And as the Lord was revealing this, he said his complaining session turned into nothing but praise and thanks about this guy. And he came down the mountain so full of love for this man, and the thing that he had complained about by him even giving thanks to God for him, the Lord had already worked in this guy's life and turned it around. And so there's something to be said about just Lord, give me your eyes for this, give me your heart for this person. Yes, amen. Yeah, so um blessing one another, and then I would just say, you know, be intentional with uh doing something that you both enjoy. Um have fun together, you know. One thing when when I'd officiate weddings, I'll say, I'll say, look at each other right now. Like I say, you're marrying your best friend, and that's awesome. You get to do life with your best friend, and so have fun together.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely, like we've never had tons of money, but we've always have gone anywhere we've lived in the world, we've hiked, probably within a 200-mile radius almost. Wouldn't you say? I mean, we've just found the prettiest places to go, and we go, you know? Whether that was in Africa or whether it was in America, or South Dakota, anywhere we've lived, we've always done that. It's just been a real good stress relief, usually at the end of the week or whenever for us just to reconnect our hearts. So yeah, I I would highly, highly encourage that.

SPEAKER_01

Anything else we've done that's just enjoyable?

SPEAKER_00

I mean I mean, we've always sang together. That's just our family, we're a musical family, but um, you know, we've always Wade plays the guitar and um as a family we just sing.

SPEAKER_01

Abby Gil play the guy.

SPEAKER_00

Ab Abby plays the piano, Caleb plays the guitar. You know, um, prior to my brain injury, I used to be able to sing well.

SPEAKER_01

You still don't sing. I mean, praise God for how he's healed your voice. If you if you had known those of you seen the the annoxic brain injury podcast number one, number one, um she couldn't even hardly talk. So where she is today when I hear her sing, many times I get choked up because it's a miracle, it's a bona fide miracle.

SPEAKER_00

Still waiting for the full voice to recover, but it's but no, yeah, over the years singing has always been a lot of fun. Um, you know, just I guess we're more outdoor people, right? We just enjoy the outdoors, exploring. Exploring. So that's for us. We've done we love going to um antique stores or whatever. I mean, at least I do. I don't know if you do that just for me.

SPEAKER_01

No, I like I think it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00

Going to cute little towns and going to neat places to eat that are unique. Um, we just love seeing the world, maybe trying different food that we've never had, um, that kind of thing. So don't feel guilty about that. Like, that's an investment. That is the definition of watering the grass that you're living in, you know, like you're watering your marriage by having the experiences and time and having fun, talking about it and having fun.

SPEAKER_01

Well, you know what? I think after maybe after our next podcast, I'll put in public, tell them what you have to do. I think it was close to your birthday.

SPEAKER_04

What?

SPEAKER_01

Up in the with the rail car.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That was fun. Tell us so doing stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, tell them about it.

SPEAKER_01

You're the one that found it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Wade and I live in the Carolinas, which is a super pretty part of America. For those of you, I know there's people who listen from overseas. So we live in South Carolina, but for my birthday this past year, we went up to the mountains in what town? I don't even know.

SPEAKER_01

It was called uh Andrews, I believe.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, okay. And there is this old train track that had been purchased by a company, I think it was eight miles of train track. And they converted it to a rail bike experience. What was neat about it was that you could not access this by any other method. So by no roads or trails, there was no other way to see this part of America except for on this railroad track. And so we got to just pedal our way up this railroad track and saw this beautiful place.

SPEAKER_01

It was fun.

SPEAKER_00

It was a lot of fun. And it wasn't hard. It wasn't hard at all. It was just fun.

SPEAKER_01

We just we wish it would have gone for another hour.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we do. We wish it had gone a lot further. So it was too short, but it was beautiful. So yeah, just doing fun things together.

SPEAKER_01

Going on adventures. Uh-huh. And um, but yeah, being intentional to have fun together.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Honestly, you guys, I know that this is the miracle story podcast. And at the beginning, you shared about the word of God being the thing that is our foundation, right? And honestly, the miraculous power of God's word to transform our hearts, our lives, and our marriages. So, yeah, but these are just principles, right? The foundation obviously is God's word, rooting our hearts in the love of God, forgiveness of God. Was there one more or was that it?

SPEAKER_01

No, that was that's a I don't know if you wanted to address um what you had just said before.

SPEAKER_00

So, you guys, just to close out this episode, I guess the final thought that I had about marriage that we haven't addressed is um probably one of the one of the biggies, and that is physical intimacy. And you know Wade has addressed from a man's perspective how you can exercise self-control, right, and find your contentment in the Lord in times that maybe your wife cannot fulfill your physical desires or whatever. But for me, on the flip side, I will say this that too many women I think use small little ailments to be always the excuse for why they cannot have physical intimacy with their husband. And so I just wanted to say, you know, this is a great blessing from God, right? Physical intimacy is such a uh huge blessing that God has given us, and so just you're kind of foolish if you continue to disregard the desires or needs of your husband and just to be selfish in that way and to withhold yourself for little things like headaches or or whatever. Not saying I know sometimes people can have migraines that you know where you feel like vomiting and things. I understand that, but for the most part, um, you know, I'm the poster child for someone who's been through a lot physically, and I will say, you know, pretty much as soon as I was able to, we were having physical intimacy because I know that that's really important, not just for me, but for Wade. That's just an important gift that God has given. So I don't know if there's more that needs to be said there, but I think it's a gift, and um it's a gift that you are the only person who can give that to your husband. So why would you withhold that? You know? Why would you use that as a weapon against him? Or you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot if you do that.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, one thing I would say that I didn't ask you to, you did it on your own. You pray for that area of our lives. Oh, all the time. Yeah, yeah. You know, that's something that I haven't heard of pretty much anybody else say, but I've seen the Lord honor that. So if it's an issue, then pray and watch what God does in that way. But um, but the I think overall is just the fact that if if you're walking in love, you're really preferring the other above yourself. And uh that's the heart of lust. Lust is selfish and love is selfless, that's right, and it's fulfilling because it's amazing becoming it's so much better, it's so much different to prefer the other person over yourself.

SPEAKER_02

That's right.

SPEAKER_01

It's so much better, yeah. And so when you come with that attitude, um everything's better from day to day to everything, it's just it's a gift to be able to have life with a person like that. Yeah. So just in closing, uh, we can pray, Katie, at the here closing out, but we we know this is probably a little bit of a longer podcast. Um we have one more that we're gonna look to do together. It's but I know this was heavy on your heart, and I honor you for you know saying, let's address this. Even as we're talking about miracle stories, the greater miracle always is in relationships, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh, it's such almost a miracle today when you look and you see those couples who have stayed together for 50 years and they still love each other and they still like each other, and they're still using the gifts that God has given them to advance God's kingdom. That's a miracle.

SPEAKER_01

Beautiful, beautiful miracle.

SPEAKER_00

That's a beautiful miracle. And so I want to see that miracle be true in all of your lives, right? And we want to hear feedback. Um, you know, I I just am really praying today that this these little tips maybe has encouraged you, has strengthened you, and given you hope. We are definitely not perfect, we have not been perfect, we've had trials, we've had ups and downs, but God has been faithful to us as we have yielded ourselves to him, as we have died to ourselves, as we have forgiven, as we have prayed, as we have believed the best in each other, as we have asked God to show us, give him our give him his eyes for one another. You know, it's just been a beautiful thing that Jesus has done in our life over the years.

SPEAKER_01

And I honor you, Katie, for persevering and praying and loving well. And um just your love for Jesus, I think, is the thing that pours out on all of us. And so I think just to honor you again and to say you kept the first thing the first, the main thing the main thing, and that is you have walked with the Lord, and from that is I become a recipient of that blessing, and our children are as well. So I just I want to honor you, and just thank you for your your love for Jesus, the love for the Father that impacts me, impacts all of us.

unknown

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04

If I start talking about it, then I'll cry again.

SPEAKER_01

We could just pray uh maybe a blessing on the people that are maybe watching or listening. That would be a good way to finish.

SPEAKER_03

For sure.

SPEAKER_01

So I'll close out if you want to open that.

SPEAKER_00

Father, thank you so much for each and every life, God, that's listening right now. Jesus, I pray for those that are married, Lord, that you would strengthen them, God. I ask that, Holy Spirit, you would give them the eyes of heaven for their spouse, that you would give them an eternal perspective, Lord, just to see and know that this is a marathon, not a sprint, God, and that you're with them, Lord. You are with them on this journey. They are not alone. God, I thank you that ultimately, Jesus, that you are the source of our love, of our comfort, of our provision, of our strength. Ultimately, Jesus, you are the only one who is perfect. But God, as we submit ourselves to you, you conform us and transform us into your image more and more and more. We become more like you. We become more selfless, more able to love fully and freely, God, um, with no strings attached. Help us, Holy Spirit, I pray. Father, bless those in our listening audience, God, in abundant measure. Lord, Lord, those that are listening that are wanting to be married, Father, we pray for them too, God, that you would just provide godly spouses for them, Jesus. Please, Lord, encourage and bring about in their life just a miracle in that way, Lord. Let us all go the distance, Lord. Let us all, God, grow old, Lord, and and um be able to testify that we loved one man or one woman through the whole distance of life, God, God, faithfully, and in a way that honors you. I pray in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_01

Father, thank you for the joy in the journey, Lord, and how it was good in your eyes to have a companion. Even though Adam had his all in you, you still wanted him to have a helpmate, God. You still wanted him to be have a wife. And we just give you praise, Lord, that you're so benevolent and so loving and so compassionate, that that's your desire for us to experience the love that flows from your heart to one another. And we pray that right now, upon every marriage, that that God, that right now they would just stop and then they would, if there is any root of bitterness, any unforgiveness, they would repent of it. And that they would, Lord, say, give me your heart, God. Give me your heart for my spouse. Let me see what you see, let me feel what you feel. And we just pray, Lord, right now for anyone that is listening to this and maybe convicted they've allowed something demonic to come into their lives. Specifically, Lord, through maybe pornography. We pray that right now, God, they would renounce it by faith, and they would put themselves in a place of a path to renewing their mind and restoration and strong accountability. That God, they would not look back ever again. They would not believe the lie of the enemy, that it'll just come up again, there'll be another cycle. They'll break that lie and say, no, whom the sun sets free is free indeed. We bless every marriage. We pray that your joy would fill their homes, that they would be kingdom-conscious, kingdom-minded people. They would look outside of themselves and outside of, quote, the American dream, and say, what is it that God wants me to do that will be for eternity? There will be gold and silver and precious stones on that final day. And that God, as a couple and even as a family, they'd be on mission with you. I remember, Lord, just some of the experiences of coming across other families or married couples, and it was such a difference maker to see them on mission with you. We pray peace upon everyone that's listening or watching, and we ask God that they will guard that peace. And Katie and I together, we just prefer every married couple that might be watching, listen above ourselves. And any grace that you've given to us, we ask you to give it to them. We pray that their lives in a marriage be rooted in the word of God. And we challenge them, Lord, even now by the power of your spirit, we ask this you that they would be reading those passages of marriage and investing in the marriage by praying those attributes into their lives, stopping, stop trying to change their spouse and allow you to change them. And God, we just um pray that they would be blessed beyond measure. For anyone, Lord, that might be listening or watching that has endured abuse, we pray, God, for healing in their hearts. We pray, Lord, right now you would touch them. You would bite up a broken heart, Lord.

SPEAKER_00

Jesus, show them away.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, Lord. We pray that you would draw near to them. And that, God, that where there's been tremendous trust betrayed, that they would find their all in you and know that you will never do that to them. And you are able to take brokenness and bring healing. And uh we just pray would you bless them in a very special way.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, God.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you, Lord. I just think about my wife and how she provoked me, that she went on dates with Jesus and she found her all, that she saw truly she was your bride. And I pray that for any woman out there as well, that they will have those encounters with you, God, and um find their all in you. Thank you, Lord, for this time. We give you glory together, and we pray use this in any way, God, to bring hearts closer to you and to each other in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_03

Amen.