Give Now to Save America's Families!
Urgent Need: Will you become one of the monthly donors needed by March 31 to embolden Christian homes to stand firm against cultural forces that dishonor God’s plan for marriage and families? Your monthly gift will ensure we can continue to provide trustworthy, biblical guidance and support to struggling families on an ongoing basis.
Choose the monthly amount you'd like to give
$
FOTF-Logo-Stretch-Color.png
Search

Focus on the Family Broadcast

Creating a Marriage Full of Love and Laughter

Creating a Marriage Full of Love and Laughter

Lisa Jacobson and Phylicia Masonheimer discuss the series of “flirtation experiments” they created to rekindle their connection with their husbands. Through simple acts of love and kindness, these women were able to start a chain reaction that resulted in happier, stronger marriages.
Original Air Date: March 22, 2023

Preview:

Phylicia Masonheimer: It was simply by giving him that affection and showing him basically, “I would like to be loved this way, but I’m going to choose to love you that way.” He responded to that and he did begin to be more attentive and more responsive. He brought me flowers for no reason, and it wasn’t like he had never brought me flowers before-

Jim: Right.

Phylicia: … but there was this element of, he felt more connected to me.

End of Preview

John Fuller: That’s Phylicia Masonheimer, and she and her friend and co-author, Lisa Jacobson, join us today on Focus on the Family. Your host is Focus president and author Jim Daly. And I’m John Fuller.

Jim Daly: John, flirtation can add spice to and spark to your marriage and today, yep, we want to talk about that because God created this. He created that spark. That’s one of the great things about marriage and especially, uh, keeping that in our marriages and the importance of it. Uh, finding those times to truly connect with your spouse can be difficult in this day and age of modernity, when everything’s going, phones are going and kids are crying and things need to be done, and we just gotta make time for each other. I’ll tell you what, the number one thing in parenting is to show your kids a good marriage. And I know our guests, uh, are well-equipped to talk about that. It’s true. Whenever I call Jean, she always answers the phone in such a nice way. It’s so fun when I call her and she’ll say, hello, (laughs). I’m serious. It’s just brightens my day.

John: Yeah.

Jim: You know, she never answers it with, uh, what do you need? Never. Isn’t that awesome?

John: That’s a wonderful thing.

Jim: Yeah. It’s a gift. (laughs).

John: Yeah.

Jim: But that’s just one example of how that flirtation can happen. And, you know, it’s just fun. And we’re gonna cover this today. I think you’re gonna want to stick with us.

John: Yeah. And I think Dena and I, we, we like to laugh together, and that’s one of the things I try to do is we, uh, sit down on the sofa after dinner just to connect. Laughter seems to join us together, and there can be some flirtatious moments as we do that, so.

Jim: (laughs). Okay. We’ll end it right there. (laughs).

John: Yeah. Well, we have two guests, uh, two guests who are gonna share a little bit from their lives and their marriages. Uh, I mentioned Phylicia Masonheimer. Uh, she’s an author, bible teacher and host of the Verity podcast. Uh, Lisa Jacobson is joining us again. She’s been here before. She’s an author and a host of Club 31 Women, which is an online community of Christian women authors. And, uh, together they have a book about their own experiences and insights. It’s called The Flirtation Experiment: Putting Magic Mystery and Spark into Your Everyday Marriage. Get a copy from us here at the Ministry. Our number is 800, the letter A and the word FAMILY. Or stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.

Jim: Phylicia and Lisa, welcome to Focus on the Family. Welcome back.

Phylicia: Thanks so much. Thank you.

Lisa Jacobson: Thank you.

Jim: Um, okay. It just sounds, it’s such a, you know, it’s already gonna be a fun topic, I can tell (laughs), but, this idea of flirtation. All the guys, all the husbands are smiling. “Finally, Jim, way to go.” (laughs) and wives are going, “Oh, no.”

John: One more thing (laughs).

Jim: I mean, “Yeah, one more thing to do.” But talk about just that general idea. Help us understand the context. I, let me ask it this way, biblical flirtation, is that even a, a thing I could say?

Phylicia: Yeah, absolutely.

Jim: (laughs).

Phylicia: Absolutely. When Lisa and I were writing this book, we were of course, looking first at scripture for what does it say about the relationships between husbands and wives? And one thing that Lisa said that I loved is that our marriages should be holy, but they should also be happy. And sometimes we can get so caught up in the holiness of marriage that we forget about the joy and fun and happiness of being married. And that is a thread all throughout scripture.

Jim: Now, I’m not gonna let you have to hook yet, because in the book you talked about a Hallmark movie that you and your husband-

Phylicia: Yes.

Jim: … Josh, were watching. Now, I don’t see how you get flirtation out of a Hallmark movie, but-

Phylicia: (laughs).

Jim: … please, uh, highlight it for me.

Phylicia: Okay. So I’m not saying that Hallmark movies should be the guide for anyone’s love life for (laughs) marriage.

Jim: Well, maybe so. I don’t know.

Phylicia: (laughs). But I was watching a Hallmark movie, um, several years ago, four or five years ago. My husband and I had two small kids, and he was actually not with me while I was watching it. He was at a hockey game.

Jim: (laughs).

Phylicia: And I was watching this movie and I was just thinking, we laugh at these Hallmark movies, but yet we continue to watch them. Like women especially. We continue to watch them. Um, and why is it? Well, we know this predictable plot line, right? We know it’s all gonna work out in the end, but we also love this fun tension of, you know, the back and forth and the kiss in the elevator and things like that. And I was just sitting on the couch watching this thinking, “I already have a man (laughs). I already have a husband.”

Jim: Right.

Phylicia: “And I am so busy with little kids and work and all of this stuff that I forget to do these things. I wonder what would happen if I integrated some of these funny, like Hallmark moments, if you wish, into my existing marriage.”

Jim: (laughs).

Phylicia: But because I’m a systems’ person, I, I didn’t try anything right away. I made a list of 30 flirtations (laughs).

Jim: Oh my Goodness (laughs).

Phylicia: I did. 30 ideas, and I was like, “I’m secretly going to do these one a day for 30 days and see what happens.” And halfway through the experiment it had… My husband never knew that this is what I was doing. Halfway through the experiment, it had transformed our relationship so much that I told Lisa about it.

Jim: Okay. And then Lisa, now I’m turning it to you, you encountered that, uh, change in attitude, I think one day with, uh, your husband. What happened?

Lisa: Yeah. I had told her, when she had talked about the flirtation experiment, I said, “You know what? I think that’s like one of the secrets to our marriage that we’ve enjoyed.” We just celebrated our 30th anniversary, and we still don’t, we’re not just staying married. We actually really enjoy each other and we still kiss and talk and hold hands. And, and, and it’s not just because we are a good fit, but because we really have been building this over years. However, the turning point I would say that I recall is back when I had four small children and I was making dinner, and I was frustrated in my spirit, just feeling like all I do is cook, clean, look after the kids, make the world go round for everybody else. And my husband came in and he came behind me and like, I was kind of cooking some vegetables on the stove and he put his arms around me and I just did the rejection thing, you know, to like, “Stop, I’m busy.” And, um-

Jim: I’ve been pulled on all day.

Lisa: Yeah.

John: Yeah.

Jim: Yeah. I know.

Lisa: And, and I just, and then I kind of saw over my shoulder, I watched him walk away and he just kind of had, like, his shoulders were just drooping. And, and I had this strange moment where I thought, “What did I just do?”

Jim: Mm-hmm.

Lisa: “Here I’ve been saying, I want more love, I want affection, I want romance. And I just, you know, turned him away. And it made this my priority. These, these onions are my priority.”

Jim: (laughs).

Lisa: And so I turned off the stove and I just whipped around and I pressed myself into ’em and did a, you know, a Hallmark PG 13-

Jim: (laughs).

Lisa: … moment. And we just had this awesome moment, like right there in the kitchen. The kids just stopped what they were doing and they-

Jim: Oh, they were there to see.

Lisa: … watching-

Jim: Wow.

Lisa: … mom and dad, like, ooh.

Jim: Oh, fun.

Lisa: And, uh, it was really a great moment of going, “You know what? We don’t need to wait until everything’s perfect. We don’t need to set aside…” I’m, I’m all for date nights. And that comes out in the book as well, but we don’t have to wait for date night and we, we can just make the most of these daily moments.

Jim: Well, Lisa, what you’re talking about there is, um, attitude.

Lisa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jim: And I, I, you know, I think some wives hearing you right now are, “Okay, there’s more guilt for me.”

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: You know, so address that. It’s not about guilt, it’s about choosing wisely how to manage that area of your life, right. And that, I mean, yeah, paying attention to the onions doesn’t give you much payback.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: Paying attention to your husband actually does in so many ways. But why is that struggle there? What, what’s happening for women that there is that struggle? And I would say that’s true. Jean, if she were at the table, she’d be right with you guys going, “Yeah. I would’ve, you know, paid attention to the onions.”

Phylicia: (laughs), right.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: But why? What, what is happening there? Why are we missing the gift that God gives us in that area? And why is it so much, so onerous to participate in a different way?

Lisa: I think we, we want our husbands to initiate these things. We would like them to be more, uh, just proactive in this kind of thing. And often we’re disappointed in it. I would say generally speaking, that’s kind of the word out there. However, as we’ve talked about it, we realized, okay, is it, are we gonna be satisfied then with a, just an okay marriage that we’re actually a little disappointed in? Or what is it that we can do? And, um, we can start the date night, we can initiate, um, an adventure and, and it’s in a selfish way, not really, but we actually benefit from it, right?

Jim: Yeah.

Lisa: Because we’re actually starting something we want and most of the time-

Phylicia: Mm-hmm.

Lisa: … the guy comes along, “Goes, this is a great idea. I’m so glad you did this.” Or, um, actually like, talk about how you felt like, like Joshua started bringing home, you know, gifts for you and stuff like that. You know what I’m saying?

Jim: Now we’re talking (laughs).

Phylicia: No, he did. He did. So what, what was funny was as I decided, you know, “I’m not gonna wait for him to come up with this. I’m not gonna wait for him to have the idea. I’m just going to take initiative on my part to show him affection the way I would like to receive it.”

Jim: Wow.

Phylicia: He began to respond. And obviously our husbands are healthy, godly men, you know, we’re not in unhealthy relationships. And so that is a factor that we talk about in the book. You know, we’re not saying this is a guarantee, “If you do this, then you can manipulate-”

Jim: Right.

Phylicia: “… your husband (laughs) into bringing you flowers.” Like, we’re not saying that.

Jim: Yeah.

Phylicia: But it was simply by giving him that affection and showing him basically, “I would like to be loved this way, but I’m going to choose to love you that way.” He responded to that and he did begin to be more attentive and more responsive. He brought me flowers for no reason. And it wasn’t like he had never brought me flowers before.

Jim: Right.

Phylicia: But there was this element of he felt more connected to me.

Jim: Yeah.

Phylicia: He felt more like he could trust me.

Jim: Right.

Phylicia: And, and like I was engaged with him.

Jim: Yeah.

Phylicia: And it was just having those simple steps for myself to follow really gave me the encouragement to do something every day.

Jim: Well, and it’s so good. And of course, y- you know, there are going to be literally millions of people listening to this and there’s relationships all over the map. And I, I think it is important to clarify that if you know you have an abusive husband or an unhealthy husband, that’s a different dynamic than what we’re talking about. And you really need clinical help, I would say Christian counselors. Focus has Christian counselors-

John: There’s lots of resources. Yeah.

Jim: … it’s a good place to start. We can also refer you to someone in your area. We have a great referral list of Christian counselors in everybody’s area in the US. It’s a really good in-depth list. But just to make that clarification, I think is really important because some wives are gonna be super frustrated ’cause they’re, their marriages aren’t in a place where it’s just-

Phylicia: Right.

Jim: … a little fine-tuning-

Phylicia: Exactly.

Jim: … we’ve got an issue here. Um, let me ask you, you, you pursued that playfulness with your husband and one night with some chocolate treats (laughs). This is funny. The fact that you hid them to make him think that you ate them all.

Phylicia: Yes.

Jim: I think that… Okay. Right there. I don’t know that that would start me in the right direction.

Phylicia: I know. (laughs).

Jim: “What do you mean you ate them all? I wanted at least one honey.”

Phylicia: Yes.

Jim: (laughs).

Phylicia: Yes. So my husband’s a practical joker.

Jim: Okay.

Phylicia: So he thinks those kinds of things are hilarious.

Jim: Good. That’s good.

Phylicia: Yes. Which I think is an element with an experiment like this, you have to know your spouse and know what, what would bring them joy or what would show love to them (laughs).

Jim: Or show them angst.

Phylicia: Or… Yeah. If you’re-

Jim: “You ate all the chocolate?”

Phylicia: Exactly.

Jim: Yeah.

Phylicia: Don’t create anxiety, but he thinks that kind of thing is funny. So a lot of what I did revolved around that playfulness, that joking, participating in games that he liked. I’m not a game person. I don’t love games, but that’s showing him I care about you. I care-

Jim: You’re talking about board games, sitting around the house?

Phylicia: Yeah. Video games even.

Jim: Video, oh, video games.

Phylicia: Yeah. I don’t love video games, but he does. And so that was something I was like, “Okay, I’m gonna choose to enter into this one.”

Jim: 80% of the wives just went, “You got to be kidding me.”

Phylicia: I know. I’m that way too.

Jim: (laughs).

Phylicia: I get it. I really do. I do. But it was something that was, he cares about this, so what, what’s my option here? I can let him continue to play by himself on this game or I can join him in it.

Jim: That’s really interesting. I think, um, and Lisa, maybe you can address this. Both of you, I- it just seems that there’s voices in our ears when it comes to marriage. Some are friends that say, “I can’t believe you do that. Or why would you do that?” We seem to still set up these gender wars where, “You shouldn’t give into your husband like that.” Or to the husbands, “Why would she treat you like that?” Why do we give into some of those voices and not say, okay, what does the Lord say about a healthy relationship? And actually the interesting thing to me in what I’ve learned over years, sitting and interviewing really smart people like you two, marriage is about selflessness.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: It’s becoming more like Christ. And I’d, I think why he created it is so that we can become more like him. So it should be a good thing that we’re laying our lives down for each other. But there’s people, especially in the women’s movement, even Christians who are offended by that.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: “That somehow you’re telling me to lay my life down for my husband. Women have been doing that for too long.”

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: Uh, speak to that idea of mutual respect, mutual benefit, mutual selflessness.

Lisa: Yeah. I think to, to keep that marriage love alive, you do have to lay down your life for one another. Ideally, you’re both gonna be doing it.

Jim: Right.

Lisa: But sometimes depending on your season, sometimes it’s season of life. Um, my husband was in a really heavy season and he needed me to carry the weight of that and, and to help, uh, bring light and life and laughter into our relationship. So I didn’t… If you just wait for him to do his part, those were years wasted sometimes rather than really going, “You know what, I can do this.”

Jim: Yeah.

Lisa: “And I can love you and, and hope for better things.” And in, in our experience, and I, I say ours personally, but even a lot of many couples that we know, they’ve had the same, that same experience of it was a good thing. It wasn’t always easy, but it was a good thing.

John: Well, this is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I’m John Fuller, and our guests are Lisa Jacobson and Phylicia Masonheimer. And we’re covering just some of the content in their book. There’s so much here. Uh, the book is called The Flirtation Experiment: Putting Magic Mystery and Spark Into Your Everyday Marriage. This is really a great resource that, uh, treats the marital connection with, uh, some real biblical insight and practical helpful, uh, advice. Get your copy today. Uh, you can call us our number’s 800, the letter A and the word FAMILY, or you’ll find details at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.

Jim: Lisa, you share about how you and your husband got into the habit of watching TV for, before bed. You know, one thing for, for, I’ll give Jean credit, she said, “Never will we ever have a TV in the bedroom.” So, and, and that’s not saying you did, but, um, you got into the habit of watching TV. I have fallen into that habit. News, weather and sports, especially football season. You know, I’m watching college games, pro games the whole bit, and I’ve gotta ratchet that down. But speak to that moment when you realized, “Okay, this is a waste of time.”

Lisa: (laughs). Yeah. We had always said we’d never have a TV in our bedroom, which we don’t, but what we, how we solved it was we’d watch shows on the laptop in bed. (laughs).

Jim: That was very wise of you. (laughs).

John: Oh, there you go. To work around. (laughs).

Phylicia: Yeah.

Lisa: And we were in a season, we were really fried. And so we felt like at the end of the day, “Hey, we’re just gonna chill.” Right? We didn’t wanna have a deep conversation, we just wanted to chill. And so, but it just kind of, it went on too long and we really realized that we were missing out on that connecting, that end of the day conversation, end of the day cuddling even. Just because by the time the show’s over, it’s like goodnight. You know? And so we, I knew we needed to make a change and, um, so I just started initiating, “Okay, let’s, um…” I set out a board game, which we hadn’t played in years, and it was really fun. You know, it was something that we didn’t have to have a deep conversation.

Phylicia: Mm-hmm.

Lisa: Do you know what I’m saying? But like, like, just-

Jim: Just creates connection.

Lisa: … just, and then we were fun. And then he’d win and he’d be happy.

Jim: (laughs). You know your husband well.

Lisa: I do.

Jim: (laughs).

Lisa: Um, but it was really good. It ended up on a, ended our evenings on a happy note. And then we did talk at the end of the day and, and have that cuddle time. But it, it, instead of letting life happen to us, as we all know, it was that being intentional of let’s have fun together, let’s do things that are just us and not always things about our kids-

Jim: Mm-hmm. All the business.

Lisa: … about our ministry, about our church, about the business.

Jim: Yeah.

John: Yeah. You know, I visited my folks just the other weekend and they’re, uh, they’re 60 plus years of marriage and they have, they’ve developed a pattern. So it’s actually a wonderful pattern. Every night after dinner, they play Yahtzee or Scrabble or Cribbage or some other, you know, upper Midwestern game together.

Jim: (laughs).

John: And, and the point isn’t that they’re playing against each other, it’s that they’re sitting together-

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

John: … and there’s space in the rhythm of those games to talk.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

John: And it, it can, it can-

Jim: Yeah.

John: … be small talk-

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

John: … but it’s, there’s no pressure. It’s flirting, but it’s not the kind of flirting that we think of-

Lisa: Right.

John: … you know, ends in a certain way. It’s just emotional connection.

Lisa: Right.

Jim: Mm-hmm.

Lisa: Yep. Exactly. That’s exactly right.

Jim: Well, I always have to be careful because we play with our two boys when they come over. I mean, we’re, we’re playing board games and it’s always Jean and me on a team. Oh. And then Jean looks at me and goes, “Now play nice (laughs). Don’t, don’t get competitive with me. ‘Okay. Okay.’”

John: Oh, man.

Jim: Yeah. So that’s always the thing. Phylicia, in a more serious way, you experienced, uh, kind of a scary time, I think when, uh, you had a little child and you were having kind of night terrors, it sound like.

Phylicia: Yes.

Jim: And it, it opened up a bit of emotional connection for you and your husband. Describe what was happening in-

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … that vulnerability and, and how your husband responded.

Phylicia: Yeah. So after our third child was born, our third child was born in 2020 (laughs). So there was plenty going on in the world as well. Um, and we had just, my husband came home to work in the ministry with me and, um, it was just a really hard time in a lot of ways. And I had severe postpartum anxiety and so I would have these anxiety attacks at night, usually when I was trying to fall asleep and I-

Jim: About the wellbeing of your child.

Phylicia: About the wellbeing of-

Jim: Yeah.

Phylicia: … of mostly about my child and my children. And I wanted to not tell him what was going on ’cause I felt like, “Well, it’s just another thing for him to have to deal with. I know that it’s anxiety. I know that this isn’t like a real situation, so there’s no point in adding on to him.” And I know this, that chapter in the book doesn’t sound like flirtation, right? It’s anxiety. But the point of this book is to show these little ways you can connect. And one of the ways I did choose to connect with him was telling him like, “This is what’s happening to me and will you pray over me?” And so he did every night.

Jim: Uh-huh.

Phylicia: And that was just a, a super special way to invite him into a struggle, but allow him to connect with me through that-

Jim: Yeah.

Phylicia: … struggle instead of pulling away from him.

Jim: No, I can understand that. I mean, even with Jean, I think an intimacy space there for her is praying together. I mean, I would not normally think of it that way, but for her, that really s- shows something to her-

Phylicia: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … that I’m willing to pray for her before we go to bed or whatever the need might be.

Phylicia: Yeah.

Jim: That is a, it’s not a flirtation obviously, but it’s an intimacy builder.

Phylicia: Right.

Jim: That is really good for her to hear, right?

Phylicia: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Jim: It, it kind of meets those needs emotionally and spiritually for her. Uh, Phylicia, we’re going to experience hurt in marriage. There’s gonna be a couple of marriages, people listening, they’re gonna write or send us a text saying, “We, we’ve never had real pain in our marriage.” God bless you.

Phylicia: Yeah. (laughs).

Jim: That’s an amazing thing, what an experience. But for most marriages there’s gonna come, you know, some speed bump-

Phylicia: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … hopefully not a brick wall, but it could be that. What are some ways that the flirtation experiment, um, can help with that bump in the road?

Phylicia: Yeah. So my husband and I had some really hard first years and because of that, there was kind of this reverberation forward through the rest of our marriage where, you know, if you have hurt each other really deeply, you struggle to trust each other in some ways. And so we were definitely, you know, dealing with that throughout our marriage. And the flirtation experiment, you know, is started out as this, this fun lighthearted thing. But then as time went on, it got to be, you know, a deeper connection, a more intimate connection. And that is what allowed us to really address those hurts and to build that trust back up again to actually, um, connect with him in a way that, that we both felt like, okay, yes, we were hurt, you know, in year two, in year three, but here in year six and year seven by doing these things and connecting with one another practically, we’re actually healing a lot of those patterns.

Jim: Sure.

Phylicia: And healing a lot of what happened back then. And, and you know, Lisa was a big part. Lisa and Matt, her husband were a big part and helpful to us in that process. So, which is one reason I was so excited to get to write the book with her. Um, but you know, it isn’t easy. I’m not saying that it was easy or is easy to heal those patterns and those hurts, but it’s definitely possible with the Lord.

Jim: Yeah. That’s so good. And that’s really the goal, isn’t it?

Phylicia: Right.

Jim: I mean, you don’t want to linger in that pain ’cause you’re gonna go 30 years with it getting worse and then you’re gonna wake up and go, “I don’t wanna stay married anymore.”

Phylicia: Right.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: That is the tragic ending of, of that relationship. Whoever sets out getting married, thinking someday I’ll divorce you?

Phylicia: Right. Mm-hmm.

Jim: It’s not what you intend. You wanna live together for your entire life-

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … especially in the Christian community.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: Lisa, how did you and Matt choose hope after your daughter, uh, was born? I know there were some complications there. Maybe explain that to the audience.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: And that can be a real burden on the marriage. Um, what happened?

Lisa: Well, our fifth daughter was born, uh, very unexpectedly, had a massive stroke in utero. And so she came out very brain-damaged and, um, it, everything happened so fast. And just doctors was swirling around and they, um, the prognosis was very grim that if she did live at all, she would never walk, talk, know us as her parents. And, um, just so you know, she is still with us today and she does talk, she doesn’t walk, but she definitely talks your ear off.

Jim: And how old is she?

Lisa: She’s 22.

Jim: (laughs) oh, man. There you go.

Lisa: So-

Jim: There’s doctors for you.

Lisa: Yep. Yep. Exactly. So one of the things that happened in, in this hospital situation where we were trying to get our bearings was one of the doctors pulled me over in the hall and he said, “Just want you to know statistically you’re gonna end up in divorce over this baby.”

Jim: What a thing to say in that moment.

Lisa: Yeah, it was. And I thought, “Oh, so not only do I have like this terrible news about this sweet little baby, but, but I’m looking at the end of my marriage.”

Jim: Mm-hmm.

Lisa: And I shared that with Matt and he said, “We are not gonna do that.”

Jim: Right.

Lisa: “We are gonna walk through this together and we are not gonna let this sorrow tear us apart or define us.”

Jim: Yeah.

Lisa: And, and that’s not that… I know it’s easier said than done, but we really, really committed to that. And that we would trust in God, that he is our hope and what the doctors say, what the statistics say, we don’t, they don’t have to determine his purpose in our life, in our relationship.

Jim: Yeah. And again, I, I think from within the Christian community, I would hope that would be significantly different, um, that couples can stay together. ‘Cause this is what, you know, the Lord says, life’s not gonna be easy.

Lisa: Yeah.

Jim: But we need to stay committed to him and committed to each other.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: Um, but in that context, um, how to maintain joy. I mean, you guys have done it.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: So now you’re the masters-

Lisa: (laughs).

Jim: … you can teach the rest of us. But you, you’re in that 15 percentile.

Lisa: Hmm.

Jim: The doctor got it wrong.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: You and Matt made it. Your daughter’s, you know, she’s talking your ear off-

Lisa: Mm-hmm. Yep.

Jim: … which is great.

Lisa: She’s a joy.

Jim: So when you look at keeping your eyes fixed on the right things, other couples that don’t have that tragedy are trying to figure out how to stay together and stay in love-

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … so how, how do they do that? (laughs). That’s the big question.

Lisa: It is a big question.

Jim: Keep that joy toward each other.

Lisa: And remind, we remind ourselves that we are on the same team. We do that often. We are together in this and we’re gonna walk through this together. We also, we, we do try to find the light side of things. Like if she says something funny or if there’s a big mess everywhere, you know, we laugh about it instead of getting upset about it. This, there’s so many opportunities of, of doing that. And, and just even in the midst of, you know, crazy moments, we’ll just say something funny and, and just make sure we laugh or tease or touch, you know, just all those things that just say, “Hey, life is still good. We still have so many good things to be thankful for.”

Jim: Well, and what I’m hearing from both of you is intentionality.

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: And, you know, marriage needs intentionality and if you don’t provide that, you’ll drift-

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … and things will not be the same. And you’ll, you’ll become strangers living in the same household, unfortunately. And that’s what I like about the content, what you’ve put together here, Phylicia and Lisa, this is so helpful for all of us, men and women-

Lisa: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … uh, to apply to our marriages. So let me say thank you for catching it and then putting it down in this great resource, The Flirtation Experiment. And uh, yeah, I was joking, this should fly outta here, right, (laughs) because, uh, again, what couple doesn’t want that healthy kind of robust, fun relationship and building on that. And you guys have done it. So the proof is in the pudding. Thank you for being with us today.

Lisa: Mm-hmm. Thank you so much.

Phylicia: Thank you.

Jim: And let me, uh, point out to the listeners and those watching, this resource is here for you along with so much more stuff to help you in your journey in marriage and parenting. But, uh, you can get a copy of this directly from Focus. If you can’t afford it, just let us know. We’ll get it in your hands. We’re a ministry, that’s part of it. But if you can help us financially, either through a monthly gift or one-time gift, we’ll send the book as our way of saying thank you for being part of the ministry and helping others, families and marriages and the journey. And to make this a little more fun, we’re trying to raise a thousand new sustainers to Focus on the Family. So perhaps you can be one of them. And if you can make a gift on a monthly basis, we’ll send you a copy of the book. Any gift you can pledge to Focus on the Family is deeply appreciated.

John: Yeah. Donate as you can when you call 800, the letter A and the word FAMILY. Or stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. And while you’re there, be sure to check out our free marriage assessment. Over a million people have taken that now, and it, uh, is only about five or 10 minutes, uh, of your time. But invest and you’ll get back, uh, ways that you and your spouse are clicking, how things are working, maybe an area or two of growth that you can pursue together. And coming up next time, you’ll hear from Dr. Erwin Lutzer who’s gonna help you pray for your child.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer: There are many parents who want good kids, but not necessarily godly kids.

John: On behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team, thanks for joining us today for Focus on the Family. I’m John Fuller, inviting you back as we once again help you and your family thrive in Christ.

Today's Guests

The Flirtation Experiment: Putting Magic, Mystery and Spark Into Your Everyday Marriage

Receive the book The Flirtation Experiment for our donation of any amount! Plus, receive member-exclusive benefits when you make a recurring gift today. Your monthly support helps families thrive.

Recent Episodes

Focus on the Family Broadcast logo

Building Strong Father-Son Relationships

This father and son team describe the problem of disengaged dads — men who may be present physically but not emotionally with their families. The Beckers encourage dads and sons to be “tender lions” who will confront societal ills and yet remain tender and compassionate in their relationships.

Focus on the Family Broadcast logo

Creating a Shared Vision for Your Marriage (Part 2 of 2)

Pastor Sean and Lanette Reed describe their marital journey and God’s faithfulness. Although many wondered if their relationship would survive, the Reeds were proactive about creating a long-term plan and a godly legacy for future generations of their family. (Part 1 of 2)

Focus on the Family Broadcast logo

Creating a Shared Vision for Your Marriage (Part 1 of 2)

Pastor Sean and Lanette Reed describe their marital journey and God’s faithfulness. Although many wondered if their relationship would survive, the Reeds were proactive about creating a long-term plan and a godly legacy for future generations of their family. (Part 1 of 2)

You May Also Like

Focus on the Family Broadcast logo

A Legacy of Music and Trusting the Lord

Larnelle Harris shares stories about how God redeemed the dysfunctional past of his parents, the many African-American teachers who sacrificed their time and energy to give young men like himself a better future, and how his faithfulness to godly principles gave him greater opportunities and career success than anything else.

Focus on the Family Broadcast logo

Accepting Your Imperfect Life

Amy Carroll shares how her perfectionism led to her being discontent in her marriage for over a decade, how she learned to find value in who Christ is, not in what she does, and practical ways everyone can accept the messiness of marriage and of life.