Anchored in Grace - Pilot

The Anchor and Grace Podcast is a heartfelt weekly devotional hosted by a dedicated husband and wife duo. This podcast aims to support and enrich marriages while also providing guidance for individuals who aspire to be married. From a Christian perspective, The Anchor and Grace Podcast dives deep into the principles of love, faith, and commitment. Each episode features insightful discussions, personal anecdotes, and practical advice designed to strengthen the bonds of marriage and prepare individuals for a loving partnership. Join us as we explore the beauty of relationships and empower one another to grow in faith and love.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the first ever Anchored in Grace podcast by Eric and Shars Nicholson. My beautiful wife. This is a marriage devotional that's been on our heart for a long time. And we're bringing it to you for the first time. And I want to introduce my wife to you, Shars.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Hello, everybody. Welcome, welcome into this beautiful marriage devotion where we are going to talk about tips and um prayer and just marriage devotional tips that we can give to you guys and um just talk about, you know, our marriage journey and what we've gone through, ups and downs.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

And you know, today being that Memorial Day weekend, you know, a lot going on. We just got out of our church service a little while ago. Pastor was was was speaking today and you know, just had a really good message. He was talking about miracles today. And, you know, it makes us often think about the importance of marriage and growth in marriage and what it takes for marriage to make it. And we really want to impart those things in marriage. Um so we're gonna be focusing in, and we want to start with a prayer, you know, because everything that you do should always start with a prayer. So let us start with a prayer.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

All right. Father God, in the name of Jesus, God, we just come to you and we just thank you for this beautiful day, God, that you have woken us all up, God, and just breathed life into us, God. And we just thank you, God, and we just ask that you be with all the marriages that are here in representation today, God, even the ones that are starting a new journey, God. We just thank you that you just bless them with tips and love and direction and devotion, God, every single day of their life, God, and let this be a blessing in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

And amen. So today, Shars and I will walk you through how we grounded our relationship in grace. And it was with one of our favorite scriptures, is Philippians 4 and 6, which says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

All right, and just to give you guys just a little bit of background about Eric and I, we have been married for over 26 years now. Praise God.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

And um, we have known each other for over 27 years, and we are just best friends, and we just do life together every single day. We have three beautiful children, two boys and a girl, and we have a a little dog, and we are just true marriage advocates, um, and because we believe marriage can last. Um, Eric and I began with prayer and faith, which guided us through every step of finding each other. Um, Proverbs 18 and 22 reminds us that he who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. This was the foundation of creating a vision for the kind of spouse we desired to be. Isn't that right, Eric?

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Amen. That's ex exactly. You know, and it's important to know really what you want, right? You know, and I think Sharif and I, when we were in those stages of of of seeking God for what we wanted in a in our forever person, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

This is something that we thought about. You know what I mean? This is something that we want to impart on all of you, you know, to think about when you are seeking God for what you want in a mate.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

That's right. It's important.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

It's so important, you know, to find what is truly good. I felt I needed to be clear about what I wanted, you know what I'm saying? So one thing I did is I made a list, you know, and it's okay to make a list. I made a list um about what I wanted in my future wife. And and it's okay to be specific. And I was really, really specific because I'm a Christian, I'm I'm a black man, and I wanted a black woman. That's what I want specifically. It's okay to say what you want, you know what I'm saying? And um with that said, you know, it can be hard sometimes. I wanted someone who worked hard. I wanted someone who was ethical, you know what I'm saying? I wanted someone who wanted to have a family, you know what I mean? If you can if you don't say what you want, you can marry somebody who doesn't have the same values, and you can run into issues later in your marriage. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 5:43

That's good, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

And it's really important, you know. Um also um there's a scripture, Matthew 7 and 7. It says, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, knock, and the door will be open to you. And that just says, if you ask for what you want and and and you seek and you knock at the door, and and and it will be open to you. God will open and give you what you ask. If you ask God in prayer for what you want, God will surely give you what you want. And that's just something that we want to impart on you today.

SPEAKER_03 6:24

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

When you're starting your relationship, is to make sure you ask God. That's right. State to God, this is what I want. But most importantly, God, what is your will for my life?

SPEAKER_03 6:37

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

These are qualities that I want in a person, but God, what is your will for my life?

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Mm-hmm. And it's so funny, you know, you said you wrote yourself a list. I wrote myself a list too. Okay. So I made a specific list. I said, I wanted me a Christian man who was black. I wanted someone who was 6'3 or taller, um, who he had to be handsome, you know. I was like, okay, God, let me, you know, write what I want. And um, I said a man who could lead with confidence, a man who could be my best friend, grow with me, build something with me, share similar similar lifestyle preferences, a man that wanted to be a father and help guide and lead my children, um, with God as the head of our household, you know. Um, he also needed to love traveling and let also I'm a very creative person, so to let me be creative in my space. And I thought that was important, um, the type of person I am, you know. And so I turned to Psalms 37 and 4, and that says, Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. And so I stood very strong on that because I thought, you know, whoever this man is, when I meet him in the future, all these things are going to line up, you know. And um, obviously they did. So praise God on that.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Amen. And I I really like how you, Shars, just really got specific, you know, down to like physical traits. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Height, you know what I'm saying? I think that's really cool, and I think it's okay to do that, you know. I think sometimes people say, you know, you be happy, you know, just be happy to meet a good person, right? Right. I think it's okay to say what you want. You know what I'm saying? You want to bless us. It's like it's like saying, I want a house, and you'd be like, God bless me with a house. But God said, You didn't ask for the type of house you really wanted. If you would have been specific, maybe God would have blessed you with the house you really wanted. And it's okay to say what you want and speak in detail to God what you really want. That's something I really learned in life.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

You know, so so speak that. You know. Um, it's crucial to remember uh Matthew 6 and 33. It says, but seek first the kingdom and and and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. We place God first, seeking his guidance above all. We must seek God above all for everything. God has to be in the center of your relationship. Every marriage, every relationship, you know, everything you do in your life, your job, everything, I don't care what you do, needs to be centered with God.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

You know what I'm saying? And um our perfect example of marriage is the example between Jesus Christ and the the the church being his bridegroom and how he loved the church and how he loves us. Right. How Christ laid his life down on the cross for us, that perfect relationship. You know what I'm saying? So I just you know want you guys to to think about that. That that that that relationship of sacrifice and love.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

And so, you know, one thing, you know, as I wrote my list out, you guys, I prayed over that thing. You know, I prayed over it. Like I was like, okay, God, let your will happen in my life. You know, I just really start thinking and praying, you know. Some people do like um what do you call those things in the beginning of the year? Um vision boards, you know. Um, you know, it was just you you're saying, I want to do this, I want to do that. This is these are my desires. I did that on a spiritual level. Yeah, I said, Okay, God, these are the things I want. Resolutions. The resolutions. There you go. Thank you, babe. So I began praying over the list and letting God work. I allowed the Lord to shape my desires and he guided me. And this aligns with the verse in Habakkuk 2 and 2, which says, Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablet so that the herald may run with it. Writing down my desires made them real and actionable. I was so amazed on how quickly God moved in my life. In this time of my life, I remember when I lost my father, and I was at the age of 17 earlier in that year, so I was, you know, I was really sad because I was like, oh my god, who's gonna walk me down the aisle? You know what I'm saying? I was like, I'm praying all these wonderful things, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm not gonna have nobody walk me down. So I was, you know, in low spirits for a while, but I said, you know what? I know this is every girl's little dream every girl's dream, but I knew I would, you know, make a way regardless. Um, so I knew in that moment, Eric, you know, that I had to start preparing myself for you. Because um, first, you know, I had to love myself in that moment, because I had just lost my father, and I had to love myself and know that God loved me too. So in Psalms 139, 13 through 14, it says, For you formed my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's wombs. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well. And I just love that scripture because it talks about who you are and how God has formed you as an individual, right? And if I if I don't know on those things, how you know when you meet me, how do you know I'm gonna be that ready for you? You know what I'm saying? You should already be ready to receive it, you know. So I was excited. I was like, okay, God, you got me. I know you got me, you already made me um wonderfully made, right? So so that was beautiful. So I, you know, it was a sad part of my life, but I knew God at the end was gonna get the glory.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Mm-hmm. So And my queen, I think that is so beautiful. I mean, that is so beautiful. And it just makes me think about the importance of vision, you know, as Proverbs twenty nine, twenty-nine and eighteen says, where there is no vision, the people perish. Keeping a vision for our relationship helps us to stay anchored in God's plan. I mean. And, you know, vision. I and and and I just echo that to everyone. A vision. You know, Shars had a vision, you know, of what she wanted. I had a vision of what I wanted. You know, a vision will keep you going. Without vision, you will become lost. You know, you have no direction, you have no idea where you're going. You know, you can't stay on the path. God, God tells us to stay on the path of righteousness, and that path is for vision.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

I want you to visualize being on a path of righteousness, and that path is giving you a vision to follow, and you follow that. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Without that path, we have no vision. Without Christ, we have no vision. We lose our way. So I just want to impart that.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

That's good, babe. That's good. And, you know, it's also about building something meaningful, you know, a legacy, you know, for our families, for our kids. Um, we wanted to create generational wealth and raise a family that honored these values as well, you know. So we instill that in our kids every day. Um, similar to how the Bible guides us, we must remember that God's plan is greater than our plan. So even though we might have a vision of something, it's you know, sometimes it's like, okay, that's not our this we're trying to make our plan, but God's like, okay, I have a different plan.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Amen. So yeah. Amen. So embracing God's plan bonded us, it guided us. Um, we've learned patience, faith, and understanding. You know, our lists were just the beginning. God's blessings were the true fulfillment of our life. It's like the true fulfillment. It really fulfilled us. And that leads me to this verse in Galatians 5, 22 and 23. And it says, But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law against these things. When you allow God to lead in your marriage, you will produce these types of characteristics in you and your spouse. I I want you to think about that. Marriage takes three. That means Jesus Christ in the center. Marriage takes three. And when you have Jesus Christ in the center of your marriage, you will naturally produce those things that I mentioned in Galatians 5, 22 to 5, 22 through 23. That love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Those things, though the that fruit. That fruit is so important. That fruit will get your marriage through the most difficult time.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Amen. That's the truth. And um, you know, I I I just love that what you said about the fruit of the spirit. And I remember when we first got married, somebody gave us for a gift, they gave us a a plaque, and it said, marriage takes three. And you know, you get so many gifts when you get married and different things, but that has been something that we still have on our wall, and it just talks about you know having God at at the head of your marriage, you know, and that has just been uh just spearheaded everything, you know what I mean? That's our foundation. So I think that is so beautiful. So I just wanted to make sure um I told you guys about that. So, you know, if you're ever out, you know, looking for something and you want something to help or just have words of inspiration, look up. There's a plaque, it's called Marriage Takes Three. Um, and it's just beautiful, touch your heart. But more than anything, we from Eric and I, we just want to thank you so much, so much for joining our podcast today. And we just hope this devotional has inspired you to embrace grace and faith in your relationships and your future relationships, trusting in God's plan. Remember, the one who anchors you in grace, always also holding you in his love and his peace.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Amen. And let's close in a prayer. Father God, in Jesus' name, Lord. We just want to thank you, Lord, for this Anchored in Grace podcast, Lord. We want to thank you, Lord, for giving us Shars and I the wisdom and knowledge, Lord, to begin this, God, because you are the author of this, God. Without you, this would not be done, Lord. And God, we ask that it bless all those who listen to it, all those who it touches, God, that it transforms and transforms hearts, minds, souls, and spirits, God. And God, we ask that relationships are built, marriages are transformed and just grown, God, from this, God. And we just thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name for all that you're gonna do, Lord. And we just praise and honor and give you all the glory, God. Because God, all glory is yours, Lord. And we thank you. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. We thank you, Lord. And amen.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Thank you for joining us today. And God bless you, and we'll see you next time.