More Than a Survival Story: Marriage after a Heart Attack - Jim and Angela Davis
When crisis hits, even strong marriages can fracture. In this gripping episode of FamilyLife Today, pastor-therapist couple Jim and Angela Davis share with Dave and Ann Wilson the story of their marriage after a heart attack: how trauma tested their vows, faith, and identity, and how grace rewove the threads. Their journey through fear, recovery, and rediscovery offers hope for anyone asking, “Can love survive the unthinkable?” Honest and healing, find how faith turns pain into purpose and rebuilds connection that lasts.
Speaker 1
My heart rate went to 30, my blood pressure dropped in half. And the doctor said if you were not surrounded by us, if this was the parking lot at the church, game over.
And what was weird was that I am more okay dying, actually than I've ever been. And I want to live more than I ever have.
Speaker 2
How has it affected your marriage?
Speaker 3
Well.
Speaker 4
I think. And can we say this, that I think.
Speaker 2
I don't know. I don't know what you're gonna say, so I think you can say it.
Speaker 4
Every single couple at some point in their marriage goes through adversity. Right? Don't you think? 100%.
Speaker 1
100%.
Speaker 4
Do you think 100% of couples will go through some sort of physical adversity in the relationship and health wise?
Speaker 3
I would think so.
Speaker 4
Health.
Speaker 1
If they're together long enough, yes.
Speaker 4
That's what I was thinking too.
Speaker 3
I would definitely think so.
Speaker 2
Well, you're hearing the voices of Jim and Angela Davis, who have been married how long?
Speaker 1
Coming up on 21 years.
Speaker 3
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4
But you guys have had no adversity in your lives.
Speaker 3
That's amazing.
Speaker 1
We wouldn't be very good guests if that was the case. Yeah.
Speaker 2
You're obviously here because you have and we're going to talk about maybe the most recent adversity. But were there others before this? I mean, I don't even say the word out loud.
Speaker 4
It's a little scare.
Speaker 2
When Jim Davis texted out or I got an email or something, you had a heart attack, I laughed out loud. I go, no, not this guy. This is like a, you know, a.
Speaker 4
Joke because, one, you're incredibly fit and you're young in our eyes, Jim, you're very young.
Speaker 1
And I was in better shape then than I am now. Yeah, I mean, leading up to it, I was going to CrossFit six days a week.
Speaker 3
What?
Speaker 1
And on top of that, I had a goal of rowing 100,000 meters in the month of December. So, I mean, I was extremely active.
Speaker 2
I tried to get 5,000 meters a day. A week, actually. A week.
Speaker 1
I was going for the hundred thousand meter challenge.
Speaker 2
I think people listening right now are going well. That's why you had a heart attack. Yes, that's exactly what some people are thinking.
Speaker 4
This is what happens. Don't get too healthy. And how old were you when you had the heart attack?
Speaker 1
44.
Speaker 3
Don't ask me.
Speaker 1
I gotta do the math now.
Speaker 2
It wasn't that long.
Speaker 1
44 years ago. 44. It was 18 months ago. I was 44.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 2
Okay, walk us back. Let's hear the story.
Speaker 1
So it was Sunday morning. I'm a pastor, I was preaching, and we have two services.
And there were really no warning signs before this, although my mom would want me to tell everybody at Thanksgiving the month before. Before she thought my skin looked gray, and so she feels like she wished.
Speaker 4
Did she say it to you?
Speaker 1
She didn't. And she says all the time, "I wish I had said something." Your color looked off, but I didn't know anything was wrong. But my mom saw that I didn't notice it.
You didn't taste used to my slow skin change color? It wasn't all of a sudden, but I started feeling a little bit of burning, like indigestion, and preached two services.
And then we had a lunch with new people to the church. And that's when it just felt like it was burning, burning in my chest.
Speaker 4
And what did you think?
Speaker 1
I thought I was having a panic attack. And I hear about guys my age who think they're having a heart attack, and it's really a panic attack.
It was a season. It was busy in the church. You had just finished your grad school. I had written a book that was requiring a lot of me, and so I just thought I'd overdone it.
Speaker 4
Had you ever had a panic attack?
Speaker 1
No, I hadn't.
Speaker 4
But you're thinking, oh, this must be.
Speaker 1
This must be what it's like. So it was burning, and then I. I said, guys, I gotta go home. And I didn't think it'd burn anymore. And I'm in the parking lot, and it feels like the sun is burning in my chest.
Speaker 3
Wow.
Speaker 4
And did you tell Angela any of this at that point?
Speaker 1
That's a funny story. Part of the story.
Speaker 4
Is it funny?
Speaker 2
It's funny now.
Speaker 3
Well, yes, looking back. So I had already gone home with all the children. I wasn't going to this luncheon, and I was exhausted. I think you had been out of town. An elder retreat during that week? Yes, for an elder retreat. So I was pretty spent.
And when he came in from preaching two services and a luncheon and had been gone most of the week, and he said, hey, I don't feel good. I'm really tired. My first thought was, oh, my gosh, you have got to be kidding me.
Speaker 2
Compared to what you've been doing, Suck.
Speaker 1
It up right now.
Speaker 4
How many kids do you guys have?
Speaker 3
We have four.
Speaker 4
So he's been gone, out of town. He's just preaching. You're like, really right. This is my break now.
Speaker 3
Exactly. It's my Nap time, right?
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 3
So how long do we let sit like that? Maybe 30 minutes, maybe.
Speaker 1
But it felt like the. The sun was burning in my chest and it was on and off. And I remember the moment I said, angela, I'm scared. And everything changed. I mean, it was, what can I do?
Speaker 4
Because that's not typical of you, right?
Speaker 1
No.
Speaker 3
Not to say he's scared of something, to feel bad. Yes, but I'd say he's scared.
Speaker 1
And I'm starting to think maybe this is more than a panic attack at this point. So we were going to go to an urgent care, and my brother. This is a lot of God's grace. My brother's an ER doctor in town.
And I told him what I was doing, and he said, no, no, you need to go to this hospital. I'll have the red carpet rolled out for you. And so we went, and pretty much as soon as I could. I mean, I walked right in. I was with doctors hooked up to all kinds of things.
And right after, I kind of really got hooked up, and they'd done some tests, the big one hit. My heart rate went too.
Speaker 3
Okay, this is where Jim kind of.
Speaker 4
Forgets hearts on the story, you know.
Speaker 3
I mean, we sat in the ER probably for two hours while they just ran tests. Took their time.
I took a n. He was saying he's feeling better, and that's when everything just completely crashed.
I mean, Jim. I mean, it's hard for me to remember too, but it was like they put. Did they put morphine or something?
Speaker 4
And you're in a room, though. You're not waiting.
Speaker 1
My brother got me right in. I was in a room. Yeah, it was. It was the red carpet.
Speaker 2
But you're not in the room.
Speaker 3
Yes, I'm in the room.
Speaker 2
Oh, you're in there, too.
Speaker 4
So when you say the big one hit, what'd that feel like?
Speaker 1
Well, I don't really remember. I just. I was out.
Speaker 3
I was watching it, so it was like he just turned white.
Speaker 4
And did he say anything?
Speaker 3
Yeah, he was like, "I've got to get my shoes off. Like, I've got to get my shoes off right now." It was kind of bizarre.
It was like he was passing out. You know when you get really pale and kind of flushed and you feel like you're gonna pass out? That's what was happening.
Speaker 4
No one else was in the room with you guys at that point?
Speaker 3
I don't remember. Maybe one nurse. But then it was like everything. All the bells and alarms were going off and she was calling for, you know, A doctor to rush in. Obviously, he was. What were they saying was happening at the time? Do you remember?
Speaker 1
I don't remember any of this.
Speaker 3
I know.
Speaker 2
Gosh. Cardiac arrest.
Speaker 3
But at the same time, we still weren't thinking heart.
Speaker 4
Oh, yeah. You didn't know.
Speaker 3
We had no idea there was anything wrong with his heart.
Speaker 1
My EKG was normal for a while.
Speaker 3
EKG was still normal. And the nurse was like, I think he had a really bad reaction to this morphine. Like, we don't ever need for him to touch that.
Speaker 4
So they gave you morphine because of the pain?
Speaker 1
No, that I don't. I'm not a doctor, but there's something about giving morphine if it's a possible heart attack, that's helpful. That's as much as I know.
But what we learned in that moment. My heart rate went to 30. My blood pressure dropped in half. And the doctor said, if you were not surrounded by us, if this was the parking lot at the church, game over. Game over.
Speaker 3
If we had gone to urgent care like we had planned, it would have been game over.
Speaker 1
So then they know what's happening. My EKGs or whatever, they have all the information to know. My brother's there at this point, making decisions for me. And it's a Sunday, and the doctor, the cardiologist, is on call, but in God's providence, he was there with his team, having just finished another heart attack. My brother would say he's one of the best. This cardiologist happens to also be one of the best in the city.
And so he's there. And that's important because I had 100% blockage in my widowmaker and 90% in the next. So how long? The amount of time before you can get treatment is going to affect your heart and your brain. You could be a vegetable due to damage. So they got me right back.
This is when I'm coming to, and the first time I'm thinking, this is bad. They're putting the paddles—it's the same thing as the paddles—but they, you know, what do they call those? Defibrillators on my chest? They stick. And I'm thinking, okay. And then so we go, okay, this is bad.
Speaker 3
This is bad.
Speaker 1
And I'm kind of.
Speaker 3
That's when I started realizing, oh, this.
Speaker 1
Yeah. And so they took me back, and I was kind of. I mean, I was on morphine and fentanyl. So I'm chatty. And I'm awake, but I was chatty. I was talking with a nurse. I remember the nurse saying, "You need to stop talking. You do not realize how serious this is. Do not talk." And I was like, "Okay."
And so they start doing, you know, going up through my wrist into my heart. They see what's going on. The cardiologist says, "I'll be right back." And again, I'm on morphine and fentanyl. I'm like, "Doc, what you got going on that's more important than me right now?" And he said, "Stop talking. I need to talk to your brother." He ran out. And that's.
Speaker 4
What kind of physician your brother.
Speaker 1
He's an ER doctor.
Speaker 4
Okay.
Speaker 1
And anyway, he went to my brother and said, this is so bad. I mean, he needs to be flown downtown. I don't know if he'd live the flight or if he did, he'd be a vegetable. But he needs open heart surgery. Bypass. I can try a stint, but it's risky.
Speaker 2
Hey, real quick. I just wanted to remind you that this is a special time of year to give to Family Life, because every gift is being matched through the end of the year. Do you hear that? Every gift matched through the end of the year.
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Okay, let's get back to the conversation.
Speaker 1
So they decided to do the risky stint, and it worked. And.
Speaker 4
But you're having a heart attack. We're having the heart attack as all this is going on.
Speaker 1
So when he. I am. I'm in active. I don't know if it's cardiac arrest or whatever the technical term is, but I am in the middle of a massive heart attack, and they're trying to figure out how to fix it.
I needed. I needed open heart surgery, you know, sorry. Double bypass, which is an open heart surgery, as best I understand.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 1
And they decided that the risk reward was better to try this double stent. And it worked.
And I remember because I can see everything. I'm awake.
And the moment those stents went in, all burning went away instantaneously. I remember being very surprised by that.
Speaker 4
You could feel it. Everything opened up. And you had blood flow.
Speaker 2
Two stents, one in your widowmaker and one beside it.
Speaker 1
Right.
Speaker 3
Boom.
Speaker 4
Okay, so Angela, he's back there. You don't know what's going on.
Speaker 3
No.
Speaker 4
What's going on in your mind?
Speaker 3
I mean, even as we're talking Like, I feel my heart racing, you know, just the memory of it. But I think a lot of fear, not knowing how severe it was. I don't think I ever imagined that we could lose him in that moment.
Speaker 2
So his brother never told you?
Speaker 1
No, and my brother told me later he was just waiting for that code blue or whatever. He's just waiting for it to go off. He knew at any minute they might be trying to revive, but he didn't tell her.
Speaker 4
When did you take him back? Did you know at that point that it was even hard?
Speaker 3
Yes, I did know that. And his brother was amazing to have in the moment because he knows what he's doing. He also protected me from having to make these huge decisions I knew nothing about.
So I knew something. He was like, we're gonna go back there and just see what's going on in his heart, because his EKG was off. And that was all I knew.
I wasn't all that panicked until I saw the cardiologist come out to talk to him in the middle of it. And then I was like, what is happening right now? So that's when I knew it was serious.
Speaker 4
Wow. So the doctor came out. Did he talk to you first?
Speaker 3
No, he didn't talk to me at all.
Speaker 4
Did his brother talk to you?
Speaker 1
Nope.
Speaker 3
He didn't talk to me either.
Speaker 4
Wait, what?
Speaker 3
I know.
Speaker 2
He didn't even come over and say, here's what we just talked about.
Speaker 3
No, no. It was all. It was actually happening a lot faster than, you know what we're saying. And I just was praying, just praying like, God, please work a miracle. Let this be okay. Give us Jim back after that, were.
Speaker 4
You aware of the family history of heart health?
Speaker 3
Well, that's actually a funny part of the story.
So the ER doctor on call came in, and his brother was there at that time. He said, do you have a physician, family history of, you know, heart disease or heart problems?
And he said no, and his brother said yes at the same time.
Speaker 2
And I was like, really?
Speaker 1
I didn't know my grandfather in his 50s, before I was alive, had a heart attack?
Speaker 3
Yes.
Speaker 4
You didn't even know that, but your brother did.
Speaker 1
He did.
Speaker 3
So important to know your family history. Right. Instead of just holding onto it, was.
Speaker 4
There anyone else that had had heart disease?
Speaker 1
Not that I'm aware of now.
Speaker 4
Wow. And all your blood work before this, your cholesterol, all that was normal?
Speaker 1
It was a little high, but they felt like because of my age and activity.
Speaker 4
You're okay.
Speaker 3
It's manageable.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 2
So, I mean, do you go home that night? What's the rest of the story?
Speaker 1
You're in there a few days, three days, I think, in the hospital, and then it was a month on the couch.
Speaker 2
Oh, really?
Speaker 1
A month? And you really. You know, slowly. I'm able to walk at a snail's pace down the street.
Speaker 4
Oh, you couldn't even walk.
Speaker 1
It was a very slow process.
Speaker 2
Now, why. Because normal stints isn't that extensive of a recovery?
Speaker 1
I don't know the answer. I mean, it was. I mean, I don't want to make it sound worse than it was, but it was a week on the couch, and then I would take slow walks at, like, you know, a normal grandparent speed.
No, y'all are probably faster than the average grandparent.
Speaker 4
Probably. I think we are, but I think.
Speaker 2
We just got ripped right there in front of us. Well, wait, I can't keep up with her. She walks fast.
Speaker 4
But was there damage to the heart?
Speaker 1
So, initially, there's initial damage in terms of how much blood the heart can pump. It ended up fully restoring totally normal.
The fact that I have full heart and brain capacity, the doctors would say, is a miracle given what all could have happened. But in the beginning, I didn't have full capacity in my heart, and some damage was done.
And so it was a little slow. And then.
Speaker 4
Well, okay, what were you guys feeling with that month? I mean, here's Jim, this couch, like, workout guy.
Speaker 3
Total.
Speaker 4
Like, invincible in a way.
Speaker 1
Well, let me. I'm gonna let you answer that, but let me say she has a gear. Like, when things are really hard, she has a gear that most people don't.
And she just. Where she is doing and thinking, but she's able to not feel like you're able to push your. Not that you're. I mean, you're very in touch with your emotions, but you're able to do things.
And that's what you did for a month. You worked hard. I mean, everything. All the kids.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I mean, it was just a process of. I'm so thankful. Gosh. Immense gratitude that he is with us, especially as you find out how bad it could have been. And I didn't even realize it in the moment.
So, so thankful our kids are connected to you, I think, in a deeper way than they were before, really. Just. Especially our youngest. Just him laying on him. Just so happy to have him back.
Speaker 4
How old was your youngest at that time?
Speaker 3
How old was he then? Seven or eight.
Speaker 1
Just turned nine, I think.
Speaker 3
Oh, you think? Nine. Okay, sweet. And I think just wanting to do whatever I could.
But in reverse, it did put all the parenting family needs on me. And so we have four kids. I work, and we are involved in the school and all kinds of sports. So it was a lot.
But like Jim said, I kicked it into another year. And that was fine for a time, you know, like you're happy to help. And then we'll talk more about what happened after that, I'm sure.
Speaker 4
What were you feeling, Jim? Because here you are, a healthy young guy, just shocked.
Speaker 1
I mean, you know, there's even a little bit of embarrassment involved. I don't know if you experienced any of this, just not that I did. There was nothing I did wrong, but just you feel weak and you feel mortal.
Speaker 4
Vulnerable.
Speaker 1
Vulnerable. And so there's a lot of that. And so tears would come very easy after that. And this is, I'm understanding, common with a lot of heart attack victims. I couldn't explain why tears are coming, but I'd cry for no reason. I would still. I wouldn't say still. I think I can tear up. That's my personality anyway. But usually now, if I tear up, I can tell you why. There's a reason.
But for the next six months, I was very different. So I tear up easy. I got overwhelmed in crowds. I mean, the four of us have spoken that weekend remembers. That's not me. And I was overwhelmed, introverted.
Speaker 4
And here you are a pastor. Yes, a lead pastor.
Speaker 1
And I couldn't some days be in the lobby. I would just feel overwhelmed.
And then if I'm being more vulnerable here, some weird things happened. I began, as I got back on my feet, to experience chest pains whenever I spoke. The doctors have concluded that it's because my body remembers that’s where it happened, and it does not want to go back there. It’s called geographic association.
So I had to deal with this because, you know, I would feel chest pains, then I would get anxious, and anyway, it would just spiral. So you have to spiral, so you.
Speaker 4
Have to retrain your brain.
Speaker 1
So I had. There was a process. I had to re-associate my body with that thing where it knew the bad thing happened.
Here's my weirdest thing. Angela probably doesn't even want me to say this, but there are days, you know, when I would think, like, did I really die? Am I like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense? And I'm the only one that I mean, like, weird stuff.
And I know in my mind that's not true, but you think weird things when—at least I did—when faced with the reality that, yes, I'm going to die. I don't know when it is. I always felt like it's a long way down, but maybe it's not.
Speaker 2
How has it affected your marriage?
Speaker 3
Well, I mean, that's kind of where I was going earlier. I was happy to, like, kick it into that next gear for a month.
Speaker 4
So you just compartmentalized it. Compartmentalized all your feelings, emotions are over here.
Speaker 3
Yes, exactly. And then after. And I'd say it probably lasted longer than a month. I mean, it lasted some time, maybe three, four months.
And then once he physically kind of regained his strength and his health and more of his stamina, it was hard for me to be empathetic because I'm thinking, okay, now you actually could do these things. You could drive someone somewhere, you could cook a dinner.
And the empathy meter was just kind of going down.
Speaker 4
He emptied the tank.
Speaker 3
Yes, yes. But what I had to realize is that although physically he had regained his strength, emotionally, he was not the same. And so just like a lot of the things he said, he got exhausted really easily. He would be moved to tears really easily. Wanted to just withdraw and numb from maybe even thinking about what had happened to him or even just this near-death experience, which is common in a traumatic situation.
So, yeah, I think that's where our marriage started to kind of get a little rocky, is that, you know, we. I felt like my empathy for him was going down. I feel a loss of connection because he's disconnecting from everyone.
Speaker 1
And I was also isolated.
Speaker 3
Yeah, that's the isolation.
Speaker 1
You would say I had depressive symptoms completely.
Speaker 3
Yeah, he was definitely depressed. And so I.
Speaker 4
You're a therapist, so you were seeing the signs of it.
Speaker 3
Definitely seeing the signs of it. And we talked about it and he admitted, yes, I definitely think that I probably am. And so you're trying to be supportive, but kind of growing a little bit bitter on the inside of, like, you're not who you are, who you were.
And I want to learn to love this new version of you. You guys have probably done that too. How many new versions of our spouse have we learned to love over decades?
And this was a moment where I was learning, okay, Jim might not ever return back to who he was. How do I learn to love him for who he is now? And that was kind of the turning point, I feel like, for us reconnecting.
Speaker 4
I've heard so many couples say that, whether it be through some health kind of scare or even depression, all of that anxiety and you're wondering, will I ever have that other person back?
Because you may not.
Yeah, I think so many couples walk through that.
Speaker 3
Absolutely.
Speaker 2
Yeah. So did you get through it? Are you in it now?
Speaker 4
Should we do some therapy with you?
Speaker 3
Yes, let's do it. No, I would say we have gotten through it.
And even, you know, just on the way down here, we were talking about, okay, so what, how did we reconnect? How did we kind of come back together?
I definitely think you can't speak for family life weekend to remembers without actually talking about what you're talking about on stage. Like, how is this going in our marriage?
Speaker 4
And you've been speakers for the weekend to remember how many years?
Speaker 1
20. 15. So 10 years?
Speaker 3
Yeah, about 10 years.
Speaker 2
Have you done one since?
Speaker 1
We have.
Speaker 3
We've done a few. It's definitely changed what we talk about.
Speaker 2
I'm just gonna say to our listeners, go to a weekend to remember where Jim and Angela speak.
I mean, I can't imagine I want to hear, like, what. I don't want to hear that yet.
But, I mean, in your personal experience, how did you navigate the new marriage? I mean, it's the same marriage, but it's sort of new.
Speaker 1
Yeah, I mean, she's learning me, and I'm actually having to acknowledge that I am different. Like, I didn't want to be different, that I felt weak.
Speaker 4
Were you defensive at first, saying, I'm not different?
Speaker 1
It was hard to argue with the symptoms when, I mean, I would, you know, go and watch two hours of TV by myself. I've never been a TV watcher. I'm not like a bingeing.
Speaker 4
That'd be weird, Angela.
Speaker 3
Totally.
Speaker 4
Like, wait, who are you? And we've got kids and remember.
Speaker 3
Remember our family. Yes, exactly. So I was definitely feeling that.
Speaker 2
I mean, what do doctors tell you is going on? Why would you do that?
Speaker 1
I mean, I was told that this is normal, actually. I remember before I got out of the hospital, my cardiologist and my brother said, you can expect depression, you can expect tears. I mean, you may need to get a counselor and in the hospital. And my wife's a therapist, so I'm not against this, but I'm thinking, I don't need that. I'll see you.
Speaker 2
I'd be thinking the same thing. I'll be fine.
Speaker 4
Yeah, my doctor said the same thing. He told me this before I went. If anything happens, just know this. Expect to feel vulnerable and expect to feel some emotions that you're kind of shocked that this happened and you're not sure what to do with them. Did I even tell you that he said that?
Speaker 2
No. I'm hearing it right now for the first time. Oh, my goodness. In public.
Speaker 4
As I said, I don't really talk about my needs that much.
Speaker 2
But let me ask you this, because one of the experiences I had. So Angela, you and I are the spouse of the patient was, you know, that was a Friday. And when the doctor came out after surgery and he's like, went, great, awesome. And I said, hey, you know, we're supposed to be in Colorado on Tuesday because her book just came out Monday.
Speaker 4
We're gonna be there Monday night.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 2
Fly Monday night beyond Focus on Family on Tuesday morning for her book. And I said, listen, you know, if you say no, we don't go. We'll figure it out. But he goes, well, she's fine. Like, we can fly to Colorado.
Speaker 3
Yeah, no problem.
Speaker 4
I asked him the same thing on the table.
Speaker 2
So we go. And this is where I realized I'm the different guy now. Because we get there 9 o' clock or so, check in a hotel, and I don't know, two in the morning, she wakes up and says, we gotta go.
Speaker 1
Something's wrong.
Speaker 2
Like, I'm passing out. And I'm not kidding. Six months before that, a year, I'd be like, you're fine. You know, I was like, he was at the door. And I feel that way now every second. Like, in fact, when we got there, it was mostly altitude. They think there was nothing.
Speaker 3
All the dehydrated.
Speaker 4
And I was on drugs. I'd never been on. Right. A beta blocker.
Speaker 1
But you jumped to the worst case scenario. I mean, that was something. For the next six months, anything that felt different in me, I'm thinking, am I having heart attack?
Speaker 4
I'm like, did this tent not work?
Speaker 1
Right.
Speaker 4
Is it blocked again?
Speaker 1
It's exactly what I would think often, yes.
Speaker 2
Do you feel the same thing as the spouse? Like, you're a little more worried than normal?
Speaker 3
Yes, definitely a little more worried than normal. I think around Christmas, the same thing happened to him. He was preaching, he felt that chest pain. He was like, we went to the hospital.
Speaker 4
You did?
Speaker 3
We stayed overnight because he was worried.
Speaker 1
But it was that geographic. It was going to be my first time back. I was gonna give a short little message for the Christmas Eve service. Very short. And I started to feel chest pains. And I didn't know at that point it was my body that didn't. Like your body. Right. There's a pellet and she can speak to trauma, but there's a book called the Body Keeps the Score. That talks a lot about this. Really?
Speaker 3
Yeah. That was so true.
Speaker 2
Crazy.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
Well, it happened here.
Speaker 4
What do you mean?
Speaker 2
I mean, your symptoms started, right? This table doesn't bring that back.
Speaker 4
No, but I've had other times where I was like, oh, and then all those fears and worries come up. We came home from the hospital in Colorado, and I remember being in bed. I was cold, and I remember thinking, like, this could be it. Like, I might not wake up. And then I thought, well, if I don't wake up, I'll be with Jesus. And if I do wake up, well, I guess there's more for me to do. And I went right to sleep. Like, either way, it's gonna be good.
Speaker 1
Okay, this is interesting. And we're thinking the same thing. You know, you have verses in the Bible that, like, especially the famous ones that you know off the top of your head, but something like this happens, and they become so much more meaningful.
Speaker 3
Yes.
Speaker 4
Real.
Speaker 1
Do you know the verse I'm about to talk about? To live as Christ, to die is gain?
Speaker 4
Yes. That was mine.
Speaker 1
That was mine.
Speaker 4
I was like, that's why Paul said it.
Speaker 1
I've preached on it three times since, just because I want to spend time looking at it. And so what was. So I walked out of the hospital, and maybe not the next day, but, like, in that short few weeks afterwards. What was weird was that I am more okay dying, actually, than I've ever been. And I want to live more than I ever have.
Speaker 4
I feel that, too.
Speaker 1
And so this is what was like going from my brain to my heart. I think usually you have somebody who. Your average person has a high desire to live and a low desire to die. In horrible situations, they might have a high desire to die, low desire to live. But what Paul's saying is he has a high desire for both. And I was feeling that, and it was just. It doesn't make sense unless you really understand why is death gained for the Christian and because of what is on the other side of this life. Why does that give eternal value to everything we do here and now? And so it's been just this beautifully sweet verse to me for me, too.
Speaker 4
And also to think, like, oh, my assignment on the earth isn't over. There's more for me to do. So it makes me more cognizant of God and like, lord, like, what else do you have for me? Because obviously it's not my time, so it must be something. But a person who didn't sleep that night In Colorado, when I was just like, I'm out. Dave, who always sleeps through everything.
Speaker 3
Wow.
Speaker 2
You know, you're scared. You're like, could she go? You know, Never had that thought. We should, but we never think of life's brevity and it's staring you in the face.
Speaker 3
Yes.
Speaker 2
And, you know, did you feel helpless, too? Yeah. Like there's nothing I can do.
Speaker 3
Right.
Speaker 2
I can pray, I can love her, you know, that's it.
Speaker 3
I can so relate with you on that.
Speaker 2
Yeah, bet.
Speaker 3
Just that helplessness you feel and. And really for the first time, realizing what it might be like to be.
Speaker 1
Left alone, which could be scarier than the thought of dying.
Speaker 4
I agree.
Speaker 1
I mean, I would rather die than lose her.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 4
To mourn, to grieve, to go through that, because I'm with Jesus. But it's terrible for you, right?
Speaker 2
Has it changed your marriage at all?
Speaker 1
I mean, I do think we got everything. This past summer was actually pretty sweet. I had my first sabbatical. We had an amazing counselor that we spent a lot of time with. And I think that has been really. She kind of pushed on the heart. She was like, listen, I'm no doctor, but I just. She was. There have to be some things in your life that they contribute in some way, because I would burn the candle at both ends. And anyway, there's a whole lot that the counselor did. The counselor listened more than I made her feel. Like she talked a lot. She listened more. But I feel like you solved a weak part of me that I didn't want to. That I didn't want seen. But having allowed you in there, I feel like when I'm crying and you're doing breathing exercises with me in the den, I feel closer. Yeah.
Speaker 4
That's intimate, man. And vulnerable.
Speaker 1
It is.
Speaker 3
And I think that's what we needed. So we did a type of counseling called Emotionally Focused Couples therapy, which was something that I said, if we ever do couples counseling, that's what I want to do. So it's really looking at the emotions that are at play. We're not talking about problem solving or homework. Like, we're talking about what is underneath your reactions. Because we all get stuck in this negative cycle. So you have fights about different things, but they're always kind of the same kind of fight.
Speaker 4
Because there's a root.
Speaker 3
Yes, yes. And so that's what we were trying to uncover. Like, what are the messages underneath for both of us that we keep reacting to each other out of. And the reactions are more right now because we're trying to love a new person, I'm not as empathetic, I'm not as patient, not as supportive. And so that's gotta change in me. And that was just.
Speaker 4
And why is that? You know?
Speaker 3
Yes. Well, exhaustion, number one. I mean, just plain and simple exhaustion. And then just trying. It really is like learning to love a new person because you are wanting that old person back. So there's a grief there? Yes, there's a grief there. Instead of thinking, how can I fix you? It's like, well, no, let me try to get to know this new version of you.
Speaker 4
I think as you say that, Angela, there's a lot of listeners who are thinking, I need to do that.
Speaker 3
Yes.
Speaker 4
Whether it's a health related issue, some sort of trauma, emotional, whatever. It's learning to love that person. Because we're changing all the time. All the time. So how did you learn to love the new person?
Speaker 3
Well, number one, try not to fix them. And that's gonna require a lot of, like, giving them space to. So like he said, the vulnerability, he didn't want me to see that weakness. But once we were able to go there and I could see that weakness and actually love him in it, that connected us on a deeper level.
Speaker 2
I mean, was that a struggle for you at first?
Speaker 4
Yeah, because how did you get beyond the, like, he's watching TV for two hours and it's just bugging you?
Speaker 3
Yeah, well, in that moment, when we're in counseling, and that's part of my story, is that, you know, I won't get into like all the counseling theory, but I would put up walls when I felt like I didn't want somebody to see something. I didn't want to be vulnerable. I would put up a huge wall. And so I would feel that happening to me in the session. I didn't want him to know that I didn't want to tell him that. And she would push on that. No, I want you to tell me what is the thing you're thinking about right now? And I go, oh, okay, I've got to say it. And then I would say it to him and he would respond with, like, empathy and kindness.
Speaker 4
Give us an example of what happened.
Speaker 3
Oh, gosh. I think we really uncovered for me, I don't know about. For you. I would realize the message to me underneath was I was always the bad guy. It was always my fault. And so I was harboring a lot of anger and bitterness because this is my belief. And I'm just getting angry about it because I know it's not always my fault. Why does it always have to be my fault?
Speaker 2
Who's telling you it's your fault?
Speaker 3
Yeah. Internal. Yeah. Myself. Just like Jim wasn't doing it underneath. No, Jim never said that.
Speaker 2
So your anger wasn't toward him?
Speaker 3
No, no, it wasn't. And so it really. For me to expose the lies that I'm believing. What's driving my reaction towards him was so helpful because then I felt seen and didn't have to hide it anymore.
Speaker 4
And his response was beautiful.
Speaker 3
Well, yeah, he's like, you're not always the bad guy. Why do you think you're always the bad guy? You know?
Speaker 1
And I could see the shift from caregiver. Then we talked about critical, but then curious. I began to see her being more curious about what I'm feeling and why I feel the way I do. Our counselor would often say, all behavior makes sense when you know someone's story.
Speaker 4
Yes.
Speaker 1
All behavior doesn't mean you have to agree with the behavior, but it makes.
Speaker 4
Sense or like it.
Speaker 1
Or like it. Yeah. Yeah. And I could just see her being curious, and I felt loved through her curiosity. And I'm stealing this from you, but you always say you can't be curious and critical at the same time. You cannot. And so. And I would see her being curious, and it was like, criticality. Is that a word went out the window? Critical spirit.
Speaker 3
I've tried to train myself. When I start realizing I'm being critical of him, other people, my kids, whomever that I'm starting to recognize it.
Speaker 1
Oh.
Speaker 3
Like I'm being really critical of this person right now. Why don't I flip that and be curious?
Speaker 4
And it starts right here in your mind.
Speaker 1
It's like a decision.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 1
I mean, I do think she's naturally good at this. I'm not, but I've started to. When I feel critical, I'll say in my mind, what would it look like to be curious? And so being given the blessing of her curiosity, it made me want to return it. And again, we had a great counselor that would walk us through it, but we've just been able to go to some really deep places that I don't feel like we would have been.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 2
I was gonna ask, do you think you would ever gone there without this? Well, how about probably not? Would you ever go there without some kind of trauma, some kind of impetus, pain to push you there?
Speaker 1
I would like to think now, having seen the value, and this isn't our first blip on the scale. I mean, we have some other things in Our background that have been hard times, but it's like each one drills the same fundamental truths that they just become more profound and more clear.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Speaker 4
Well, I'm just thinking of so many couples that are living in the critical spot, unable to get to the curious. That's where we lived for years.
Speaker 2
Our last book's about.
Speaker 4
Yeah. I think a majority of couples live in that place.
Speaker 3
Well. And it's hardest to do with your spouse.
Speaker 4
Why do you think?
Speaker 3
I think there's just so much emotion involved. You know, I think with other people, we can give them the benefit of the doubt, we can remove ourself. We can have kind of a better perspective. But for some reason, there's emotional.
Speaker 4
Just expectation too.
Speaker 1
Well, and I've heard you say before something about safe places. The safest places are where you can.
Speaker 3
Let your guard down, be yourself. It's true, you know, that you're gonna be forgiven or accepted, which is a wonderful and beautiful thing, until we take advantage of it. Yeah.
Speaker 2
There's something about right or wrong. I don't know if I'm right. But if you go through trauma, adversity, struggle, well, it feels safe. If it's not, well, it's scary. You feel pushed away. You're afraid to step in there. But if it's done well, it opens up emotions and transparency. You may never have let that wall down, but now you're like, who cares about this stinking wall? What am I doing? Yeah, there's no better. I gotta go here.
Speaker 3
Right.
Speaker 2
Is that sort of what you've experienced?
Speaker 3
Totally. And just trauma in general. An event doesn't have to be traumatizing because of its severity. I mean, it really is how the person responds to it. How do they perceive it to be severe?
Speaker 4
Because you might see this is nothing.
Speaker 3
Exactly like what in the world.
Speaker 4
You're such a baby.
Speaker 3
But when you're. But in marriage, if we feel like we've got somebody with us in it, we have a strong support. It almost buoys us a little bit in the face of that severity to maybe ride that wave in a different way where it's not as traumatizing as it could have been without that support. So I think we need each other in marriage because we're gonna go through hard things that we don't see coming. I mean, that's kind of what trauma is. It comes out of nowhere. It's unexpected, out of the blue, usually. I mean, just simple trauma as opposed to, well, a complex trauma. Something that's happening ongoing. You know, like ongoing abuse or domestic Violence that you know is a different story. But this out of the blue trauma. Most couples, if they're married long enough, are going to experience something like that.
Speaker 4
We love seeing how God works through family life to bring hope to families.
Speaker 2
And we can't do it without you. Every gift helps us reach another home with the gospel. And so would you consider partnering with us?
Speaker 4
Just visit familylifetoday.com or call 800 FL today.
Speaker 2
Okay, let's wrap up this conversation.
Speaker 3
Let's.
Speaker 4
Let's give this example, and I love too, that you have, you. We have a pastor and a therapist on hand to kind of give us perspective. Let's say there's just a couple that's just like, maybe one of them, the husband or the wife is going through depression, anxiety, but just, they just can't get out of it. And a spouse, as a spouse, you feel like, like, I've given them grace, I've given them time, and your patience is wearing out. And now you're critical. And let's say your husband or wife is watching TV or sleeping so much sleeping. How do you get curious? Like, how do they get over to that place when they're so fed up with it, when they're like, if I. I've gone through it too, and I'm not reacting like this? Yeah, give us some coaching.
Speaker 1
I mean, I feel like this is your wheel. I have thoughts, but I feel like yours are going to be better.
Speaker 3
Yeah. First thought is it is a mind shift inside of your own brain. You have to train yourself. So we're laying down a new neural pathway or a new way of being.
Speaker 4
I call it training your brain.
Speaker 3
Training your brain. So we have to do that now. What makes it hard in marriage is that often we've gotten in these, this negative cycle. So we respond to each other in a certain way. We put up walls, we retaliate, we say unkind things. And so we don't want to be curious. Like, it keeps us in the critical. Like, why would I want to be curious when you're just like, you know, roadblocking me here and there and I.
Speaker 4
Have to do everything now and I.
Speaker 3
Have to, yes, I'm exhausted. I don't even have room to be, you know, curious at this point. I don't know if I want to be curious about why you're watching so much TV or about your show. So I do think that's where, you know, it could be a friend, it could be your pastor. It does not need to be a counselor. But although they're great too. You need kind of an outside perspective who can help you see things. Because when, like, for me as the spouse, if I'm isolating and I'm just getting bitter and nobody's challenging that perspective, I'm gonna stay there. I'm gonna stay in that critical place. I need a friend or someone else removed from it who can ask me the hard questions.
Speaker 2
Although that friend probably shouldn't be somebody that's jumping on your bandwagon. I agree. You should be more bitter than you are. What a loser.
Speaker 3
Yes. Because then they're just critical. Like, they need to be curious as well. So I would encourage anyone. I mean, that's definitely. I think the counseling piece was huge for us, being able to have that person. And we did it on Zoom, which is what is crazy. I was thinking, how is couples counseling via Zoom going to actually work?
Speaker 1
Well, it's funny, because there are a lot of great counselors in Orlando, but we're connected with them. We know too many people, and you have this added layer of we're going to be really honest. And there's some things about me maybe, that I don't want spread around Orlando. Nothing. You know, like, I'm not my. And maybe I have some thoughts about Angela that I don't want spread around the counseling community. So it's like, we know them, and we want to protect each other, too, but go to those deep places. So we actually found somebody in North Carolina.
Speaker 3
Yeah. And she was. Happened to be licensed in Florida. And she was phenomenal. Just really helped. And that's why I love that type of therapy. It wasn't just, like, we were staying in the cognitive, where we're just talking about homework and, like, okay, he said, she said, and there's a place for that. But what we needed was to really unearth. Okay, now we have built up a lot of bitterness and frustration and just numbing. And we need to talk about what's driving those behaviors so we can actually deal with the root issue of the problem. And that was huge. To see each other say the things that we didn't know because we weren't saying them out loud. And then the response in the moment was, I think the most healing. Like, for him to have empathy for me when I'm sharing how I'm really feeling in response to him was the greatest healing there was for me to realize, oh, he actually isn't against me. He actually isn't just taking advantage of me, really loves me, and he's got a lot going on emotionally that I don't even know about because he's. He's numbing it.
Speaker 1
Yeah. And I think when she was curious about me and my weakness, when she was critical, I was defensive. When she was curious, it actually allowed me to be curious about myself, too. And so that was a change.
Speaker 4
What's that look like?
Speaker 1
You know, I. Why am I watching so much tv? Why are the tears coming? Why do I get overwhelmed? Like, why in crowds? These are things that I kind of wanted to, like, live in denial a little bit about or hide. But her curiosity drew that out, and I would have to. I became less. I felt less weak and more just okay, maybe I need to be more curious about this new version of me, too. The other thing that I think is going on is we're like. We're in a relationship where we want to. Let me say it like this. God's designed the marriage to be a place where you're fully known and fully accepted, which is the very heart of the gospel. I mean, no one knows us more fully than God, and no one has accepted us more than he has through Jesus Christ. And it's a real design. So then when we go to our most vulnerable places, the places we're most intimidated or insecure or scared to go, and then we find acceptance there. It's just. It takes you to places that are deeper than you'd known.
Speaker 3
So it reconnects you.
Speaker 1
It reconnects you.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4
You know what it made me think? It made me think, like, as we talk spiritually, I'm thinking of the garden and the sin and fall of mankind and Adam and Eve.
Speaker 2
That's where you went.
Speaker 4
It made me think, here we go. That God wasn't as critical as they had eaten of the fruit. He was curious. What was his first thing? He asked, where are you?
Speaker 1
It's not. Cause he didn't know the answer.
Speaker 4
He knew it. But he's curious. And I think often we think God is critical. Shaming. What have you done? Where have you been? How could you do that? Instead, I feel like the Holy Spirit's asking so many questions of what's going on, and he wants us to be curious about ourselves. But I love that about dialogue.
Speaker 2
I mean, is that what you would say your marriage has now that it didn't? That was going to be my next question. I think maybe you've already answered it. But what does your marriage now have that two years ago was not there?
Speaker 1
I think after all the dust settled, there was a reorienting of my own priorities. Just kind of, what do I really want to do, and I want to be a good husband and a good dad. Those are the main things. And I love being a pastor. But I had just been prioritized. I had just been burning it at both ends. That's the best way to say it. And years ago, Angela said, jim, every time you say yes to something, you're saying no to something else. And increasingly, that no is to us.
Speaker 4
Okay, that's big.
Speaker 1
And that was a category that I just did not have this some years back, but kind of revisiting. All right, what do we want? What's most important?
Speaker 4
Let's reshuffle the deck of cards.
Speaker 3
Oh, that's a good way to put it.
Speaker 1
And so I've talked with you about. There was a. You know, there was a great opportunity in the writing world, and I was just like, no, I love writing, but I just need to focus here for right now.
Speaker 2
Yeah, that's a big no.
Speaker 1
But it was. It was the easiest no for me because of just where we were and having our priorities shift. So that changed. That was your question. I'm trying to remember what your marriage has to say.
Speaker 3
And I think the curious piece is huge, too. Like, to replace a critical spirit with a curiosity. Hey, I want to know you more. I want to understand where you're coming from instead of. Of just automatically jumping to the critical. Now, I don't do that well all the time, but like I said, I'm training my brain that when I hit the critical. Oh, like, here we are. We need to turn it around to the curious. And that has really helped, I think, our communication, our connection.
Speaker 4
I know I'm imagining that, Angela, of you walking in, sitting on the couch, and say, I've never seen you do this before. Like, this isn't even who you are. Something must be going on to have you sitting here. Not that I'm condemning it, but something's going on that would make you sit here for this amount of time. Because I've never seen this. That's being curious.
Speaker 2
I can't wait for you to be more curious. It's gonna be awesome. Not that I need to be more curious. You're thinking the exact same thing, that I should be more curious.
Speaker 4
You guys, this conversation has spurred me on thinking, because after I had the that stint, life did not change one iota in terms of schedule. Like, we were in Colorado in three days.
Speaker 3
Yes.
Speaker 4
Then we were with our kids out there for five days. I mean, it. Just because we had a book launch, it is 100% go, which makes you not sit and even ponder.
Speaker 3
Yes.
Speaker 4
And so there's been a gift for you guys. It probably was a hard one to walk through, but in terms of just. Just taking it slow and kind of analyzing what's going on, what I'm feeling, I don't think we've had time to do that.
Speaker 2
I have.
Speaker 1
We can recommend a good counselor.
Speaker 3
Yes, yes. We've got a good one.
Speaker 2
We've got a good one.
Speaker 4
What do you mean you have?
Speaker 2
No, I mean I. Yeah. In terms of lifestyle slowing, you haven't quite done that. Really. No, I was thinking, for me, thinking about Ann.
Speaker 3
Oh.
Speaker 4
Yeah. You have been nicer to me.
Speaker 3
Well, love her honesty.
Speaker 2
I think we're done. Thank you for listening to family life today.
Speaker 4
No.
Speaker 1
Well, I do think that it's easy to overlook how this falls on the spouse and I don't have time for another story, but she did have cancer years and years ago and I was the spouse. It's weird to switch roles, but if you live long enough, you're gonna see it's gonna happen.
Speaker 3
You are.
Speaker 1
But it is a whole. It's a whole different process for the spouse of the person who had the trauma. And you know, trauma's. I recognize there are people out there with worse traumas, so I do think I'm appropriate using the word. But we didn't lose a spouse, we didn't lose a child, we didn't lose a grandchild. And so I want to acknowledge that I did lose.
Speaker 3
But it's still a life threatening event, you know, where you're not sure, you feel powerless, you feel helpless, you're not quite sure if you're going to live or die. I mean, that's scary to me. That is a trauma.
Speaker 2
Yeah. And you know, for me, what I realized, and I'm still processing is I've always thought of Ann as the strongest, most capable, not just woman, person. She is a rock. You know, when our kids were little and I was somewhere, she'd throw them all in the car and drive 12 hours, go to Atlanta from Detroit. I'm like, who does that? She didn't blink. She just. She's a rock. And this was like, she's fragile and I need to treat her like a precious vase that you don't just throw around the room, you protect. I don't know if I've done that real well, but I feel like I love. I mean, I feel like I need to do a better job of protecting her. And you have been to what I have done. And some of that's Me saying yes of things and dragging her with me, like, because, you know, everything we do now is together, marriage together. It's rarely me alone. I'm actually saying to guys, hey, I'll come speak your mentor tree. So Ann can stay home, and I'll just do that. But it's usually together. And I realize this isn't about me. This is about her. And she deserves that. She's earned that. So I think that's, you know, and somebody. I used to preach back in the day, you know, James one, consider it all joy when you fail. Various trials of many kinds. You preached it, too. I'm sure you know, the idea that adversity or trials make you better or bitter and listening to you. And again, I always say the choice is up to us, how we choose in that moment. We can become bitter, mad at God, mad at our spouse, whatever. Or we can actually, you're better.
Speaker 4
You are better.
Speaker 2
I mean, I'm listening to your story.
Speaker 3
I'm like, you're better. I think we can go through a season of bitterness. You know, I think that we could have stayed there. And I'm so thankful that we didn't, that we even driving down here, I was like, do you feel like. Like we're 100% back? Do you feel like that? And I do. I really do think so. Definitely sabbatical helped kind of finalize that. But I definitely think we are, which is huge.
Speaker 2
Last thought would be for you guys to say to our listeners who are in a battle right now or in a valley, in a storm. And it could be worse, it could be minor, but it's a storm and they're in it. How would you, coach, what would you say to them?
Speaker 3
Well, I, for one, believe that God is writing our story, and we despair, we become depressed, we become anxious when we think we're in charge of writing it. And sometimes we get really tired and we get bitter in the midst of waiting and ongoing struggles. Just that place I was with him, like, okay, how long is this going to last? When are you going to come back to me? But I'm trying to control the narrative. I want to write the story. I want it to go how I want it to go. And I forget that no God has a plan in this. And when I can actually lean into that and say, okay, God, you're writing a good story, can I be curious about that instead of critical of you for what you're writing and wonder, okay, God, what could you be up to? Because I know you're a good father and I know you're going to write me a good story. It might not be the one I would have written, but it would still be good. So what are you up to in this moment? And it allows me to wait with more patience and more hope than being bitter like I was.
Speaker 2
What about you, Mr. Patient?
Speaker 1
It makes me think of Philippians where, you know, you see the theme of union with Christ. And what you see is the pattern of Christ's life, of dying and resurrecting is the pattern for all Christians. Daily dying to ourselves, dying to bitterness, dying to a critical spirit. And then seeing the Holy Spirit do all these resurrections in our hearts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. But the resurrection is higher than the death. And so like embracing a life in the pattern of Christ where we are going to die to ourselves daily, but knowing and eventually experiencing all those resurrections in our heart that show us that the pattern is good. And I think I would also say, especially if the tendency is to isolate, which happens in a hard marriage. But it's also, I think there's a lot culturally that I could argue that makes us more isolated, the importance of the church. And I just think about when I had that heart attack. The way the church came around me was just unbelievable. I had people that. I didn't even think they liked me, lavishing me with praise and are you okay? And prayer. And it's just like. And it's like, okay, this is what it looks like to live in community. And then where is appropriate being able to go deeper with people. But isolation is maybe one of Satan's greatest tools to divide us.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 4
Wow, that's really good.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
And it sure sounds like rest is important as well.
Speaker 3
Yes.
Speaker 2
I mean, you're sabbatical. I don't know if you would have taken it without this. And now you realize this is something I have to do.
Speaker 1
It was on the radar and I still. Even so I had my medical leave, but then I had sabbatical, and I was even still, should I put it off a year? Things are busy. The church is growing, but I did it. And now that I've experienced that kind of rest, now I know everybody can't take a sabbatical, but there's different ways to rest. But I just realized, okay, I've experienced habits and rest and some. Some major lifestyle changes that, that I need to really think through going back into my job full time, so.
Speaker 3
Good.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
Well, it's going to be really helpful for people. Thanks. I know.
Speaker 4
I think so.
Speaker 1
Too.
Speaker 4
Thank you.
Speaker 1
It's always fun to be with you.
Speaker 2
Don't have another heart attack just to come back on.
Speaker 3
Okay?
Speaker 2
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Past Episodes
- 25 Days, 26 Ways to Make This Your Best Christmas Ever
- 25 Questions You're Afraid to Ask
- 31 Days to a Happy Husband
- 40 Lessons from 40 Years
- 40 Years of Faithfulness
- 9 Days to a Better Sex Life - Dave and Ashley Willis
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- A Conversation with Dr. Mark Bailey (Live from NRB 2025): Dr. Mark Bailey
- A Fierce Love
- A Grace Disguised
- A Grace Revealed
- A Guide to Biblical Manhood
- A Lasting Promise
- A Love Restored: Alberto and Debbie Rodriguez
- A Love Story
- A Loving Life
- A New Kind of Freedom
- A Panel Answers Your Questions
- A Positive Life
- A Praying Life
- A Second Love Story
- A Very Special Family
- A Walk in the Market
- A Way With Words
- A Wife's Secret to Happiness
- A Woman's Role
- A Woman's Wisdom
- Abbey Wedgeworth - Raising Godly Kids
- Adopted for Life
- Adorning Your Home For Christmas
- Adult Children of Divorce
- After They Are Yours
- Aggressive Girls
- Al Mohler on Marriage
- All In
- All Pro Dad
- Amberly Neese: Jesus and Friendship
- Ambushed by Grace
- America: Turning A Nation to God
- An Unmerited Mercy
- An Untold Love Story
- Anchorman
- Answering Your Kids Toughest Questions
- Answering Your Questions About Parenting
- Applied Masculinity
- Approaching Adolescence: What Your Preteen Needs to Know
- Art of Parenting: What Every Parent Needs
- As Mom: Q & A with Barbara Rainey
- Ashamed No More
- Ashlee Gadd: Create Anyway
- Avoiding the Greener Grass Syndrome
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- Bad Dads of the Bible
- Barbara and Susan's Guide to the Empty Nest
- Barbara Rainey on Gratitude
- Be the Mom
- Beautiful Mess
- Beautiful Nate
- Beautiful Womanhood: A Biblical, Practical Guide for Wives
- Beauty by God's Design
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- Becoming a HomeBuilder
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- Becoming a True Woman While I Still Have a Curfew
- Becoming Mom Strong
- Before You Hit Send
- Before-You-Marry Questions
- Begin Again, Believe Again
- Behold the Lamb
- Beyond Bath Time
- Beyond Ordinary
- Bible Study in the 21st Century
- Big Truths for Young Hearts
- Birth to Five
- Blair and Shai Linne: Finding My Father
- Blame It on the Brain
- Blended Family Ministry in the Church
- Bond of Brothers
- Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
- Boys Should Be Boys
- Brant Hansen: Fatherhood and Forgiveness
- Brant Hansen: The Young Men We Need
- Brave is the New Beautiful
- Breaking Free With Max
- Breathe
- Brian & Jen Goins: The Science Behind a Happy Marriage
- Bringing the Gospel Home
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- Called to Adopt
- Caring for Carol
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- Celebrating Christ at Christmas
- Celebrating Recovery
- Chad & Emily Van Dixhoorn: Gospel-Shaped Marriage
- Choosing Gratitude
- Choosing to SEE
- Chris Singleton: Your Life Matters
- Christmas Q&A with Dennis and Barbara Rainey
- Christopher Cook - Healing What You Can't Erase
- Cleaning House
- Close Kids: Connect Your Children for Life
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- Collin Outerbridge: Modern Romance
- Common Blessings, Familiar Miracles
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- Confessions of a Boy Crazy Girl
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- Counter Culture
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- Desire and Deceit
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- Discovering a Lifelong Love
- Do Christians Have it Wrong on Sexuality?
- Don Everts: What's it Look Like to Love My Community?
- Don't Let Me Go
- Don't Waste Your Life
- Dr. Lee Warren: Rewiring Your Heart and Mind
- Eight Important Money Decisions
- Elevating Easter
- Embezzlement
- End the Stalemate: Tim Muehlhoff & Sean McDowell
- Engaging the Culture
- Enhancing Your Marriage
- Enter the Ring
- Entertaining for Eternity
- Everyone a Chance to Hear
- Everything Sad is Untrue: Daniel Nayeri
- Experience God as Your Provider
- Facing the Blitz
- Faith Legacy
- Faithful Families
- Family I.D.
- Family Shepherds
- Fashioned by Faith
- Father Hunger
- Fear to Freedom
- Fearless
- Feelings and Faith
- Fierce Women
- Fight For Love after Porn: Rosie Makinney
- Finding Help for Your Troubled Teen
- Finding Holiness in Intimacy
- Finding New Life and Love in Christ
- First Time Dad
- Firsthand
- Five Days to a New Marriage
- Five Guidelines for a Successful Marriage
- Five Mere Christians - Jordan Raynor
- Flight Plan
- For Men and Women Only
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- For the Love of Christ
- Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers
- Forgotten God
- Four Pillars of Step-Parenting Success
- From Fear to Freedom
- From Santa to Sexting
- Gay Girl, Good God
- Generation Ex Christian
- Gentle and Lowly
- Get Lost
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- Girl Defined
- Girls Gone Wise
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- God At Work Around The World
- God is Enough
- God Is So Good
- God Less America
- God Talk at the Mall
- God Who’s Over It, God Who’s In It: Rechab & Brittany Gray
- God’s Very Good Design
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- Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Lysa TerKeurst
- Good Mood, Bad Mood
- Good Pictures, Bad Pictures
- Gospel Centered Mom
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- Granny Camp
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- Healthy Intimacy: Dave & Ashley Willis
- Heavenward: Cameron Cole
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- Help For Anxiety in Parenting: David & Meg Robbins
- Help Wanted: Moms Raising Daughters
- Helping Orphans With Special Needs
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- Hero: Unleashing God's Power in a Man's Heart
- Hidden Joy
- High Performance Friendships
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- Hooked
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- How Do I Love Thee?
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- Kiss Me Again
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- Letters to My Daughters
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- Love Like You Mean It
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- Mean Mom's Guide to Raising Great Kids
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- Men and Women: Enjoying the Difference
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- Michael Kruger: Surviving Religion
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- Money and Marriage God's Way
- Money Saving Families
- Moral Purity in Marriage
- More Than A Carpenter (updated): Sean McDowell
- More Than a Wedding: A Closer Look
- More than Championships
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- October Baby
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- Parenting Beyond Your Capacity
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- Planting Scripture Seeds
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- Preston Perry: How To Tell the Truth
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- Refreshment for Families
- Rekindling the Family Reformation
- Rekindling the Romance in Your Marriage
- Relationships Done Right: Sean Perron and Spencer Harmon
- Remarriage After Loss: Ron Deal and Rod & Rachel Faulkner Brown
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- Rich in Love
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- Romance for Dummies
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- Ron and Nan Deal: Mindful Marriage
- Runaway Emotions
- Ruth Chou Simons: Now and Not Yet
- Ruth Chou Simons: When Strivings Cease
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- Sacred Influence
- Sam Allberry - Gospel Sanity in a Weary World
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- Say Goodbye to Survival Mode
- Say it Loud!
- Screens and Teens
- Season of Change
- Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
- Secrets
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- Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage
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- Sex and the Single Christian Girl
- Sex and the Single Girl
- Sex, Dating and Relationships
- Sexual Problems in Marriage
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- Shame Interrupted
- Sharing Christ with Word and Deed
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- Shattered
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- Shelterwood
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- Sleeping Giant
- Smart Phones for Smart Families
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- Soul Surfer
- Speak Life to Your Husband When You Want to Yell at Him - Ann Wilson
- Speaking Your Spouse's Love Language
- Special Kids with Special Needs
- Spiritual Life Coaching
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About FamilyLife Today®
FamilyLife Today® is an award-winning podcast featuring fun, engaging conversations that help families grow together with Jesus while pursuing the relationships that matter most. Hosted by Dave and Ann Wilson, new episodes air every Tuesday and Thursday.
About Dave and Ann Wilson
Dave and Ann have been married for more than 40 years and have spent the last 35 teaching and mentoring couples and parents across the country. They have been featured speakers at FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember® since 1993, and have also hosted their own marriage conferences across the country.
Dave and Ann helped plant Kensington Community Church in Detroit, Michigan where they served together in ministry for more than three decades, wrapping up their time at Kensington in 2020.
The Wilsons are the creative force behind DVD teaching series Rock Your Marriage and The Survival Guide To Parenting, as well as authors of the recently released books Vertical Marriage (Zondervan, 2019) and No Perfect Parents (Zondervan, 2021).
Dave is a graduate of the International School of Theology, where he received a Master of Divinity degree. A Ball State University Hall of Fame Quarterback, Dave served the Detroit Lions as Chaplain for thirty-three years. Ann attended the University of Kentucky. She has been active with Dave in ministry as a speaker, writer, small group leader, and mentor to countless women.
The Wilsons live in the Detroit area. They have three grown sons, CJ, Austin, and Cody, three daughters-in-law, and a growing number of grandchildren.
Contact FamilyLife Today® with Dave and Ann Wilson
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http://www.familylife.com/
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