Focus on the Family Broadcast

Jim Daly: Hi, I’m Jim Daly. Before we get to today’s program, I wanted to let you know about a new faith and family-based TV series coming out tomorrow, March 28th, on Amazon Prime Video. Uh, the show is called The Baxters and features our good friend and well-known actress, Roma Downey. You remember Touched By an Angel. I’ve invited Roma to join us on the phone for a few moments. Hey, Roma.

Roma Downey: Jim, hello. How are you doing? It’s so nice to talk to you.

Jim: Man, you seem, you and your husband, Mark, you guys just seem to be the ever-ready bunnies of Hollywood. I was so grateful when you did the Bible and AD, and those shows were powerful and impactful, and the Christian community came out to watch those. Uh, man, I just so appreciate what you’re doing there.

Roma: Thank you so much. You know, and as we’ve seen this past year, I think, in Hollywood, we’ve seen a lot of wonderful, inspirational, and faith-friendly content, and, you know, Mark and I would like to think in some way that we helped to pioneer that, and I think it’s been a great year for that in the entertainment industry.

Jim: Absolutely. Before I ask you about The Baxters, the new program you guys are doing with Amazon Prime, let me ask you this. Uh, you know, there’s kind of two tactics that I see in the Christian community, the broader Christian community. We can scream at the darkness, we can yell at the darkness, or we can kind of infiltrate and be part of it and try to bring light into the darkness, which I think is what Jesus did, asking great questions. Do you kind of see your mission as that, as creative people, as people being in the arts, what you’re trying to do? I, uh, it’s so easy to curse the darkness.

Roma: Yes, absolutely. Jim, right on is what we, you know, we called our company Light Workers, always imagining that- that God was the light and that we are the workers, and that, you know, our- our commitment has been to bring uplifting content to the world. And we, in fact, adopted a mantra of that slogan of that it’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness, but my experience is that there are good people everywhere doing good things, and we just need to make more noise for the good guys.

Jim: Well, that’s good news. Tell us about The Baxters project and what’s coming out on Amazon Prime starting tomorrow.

Roma: Yes, we’re super excited. Um, Karen Kingsbury, a number one New York Times bestselling author, has written this beloved book series called The Baxters, about a family, uh, a mother, father, five grown children, and, um, some years ago, I came to the project as a fan. I was reading the books. I’d loved the books. I thought this needs to be a television series. I didn’t know Karen personally, but I had felt the boldness to reach out to her. I called her up and said, “Please let me option these wonderful stories to bring them to television,” and she said to me, “You know, it’s so providential that you called me” because her father, who had passed, had said to her, “One day, this needs to be on TV, Karen, and you should reach out to that woman from Touched By an Angel.” (laughs)

Jim: Oh, my goodness.

Roma: So-

Jim: Man, that’s a God thing.

Roma: … we just felt this … Yeah, it was a God thing. And so, uh, you know, we just felt that that was, like, a whisper that meant we were supposed to work together. We- we, uh, collaborated on this. Um, she entrusted me to bring these stories to the screen, and they have come to life in marvelous ways. You know, this is a- they’re a family of faith. They’re a church-going family. We don’t often get to see that on television. Uh, at the center of this family is a loving and committed relationship of the mother and father, and I, in fact, Jim, have stepped back into the front of the camera, which I haven’t done in ages, and I play the role of Elizabeth Baxter, the matriarch of this family. Ted McGinley has stepped in for the role of John Baxter. We see in the opening sequence, um, the mother and father praying for one of their daughters, and again, I can’t tell you the last time I saw that on television, for people to be holding hands in prayer and praying in the name of Jesus. So, it’s a beautiful series. I’m very happy that it’s going to be on Amazon Prime. It’ll be … you’ll be able to curl up on the comfort of your couch with your own family-

Jim: Right.

Roma: … over the Easter holiday and watch all of these episodes. It unfolds, like, it’s- it plays out a little bit like a soap opera, but we’ve coined the phrase “hope opera.”

Jim: Well, let’s all go watch it (laughs) and go to your living room and watch it, uh, The Baxters, which, uh, appears tomorrow on Amazon Prime. Thank you, Roma, so much, again, for what you’re doing and for, uh, taking a few minutes to share it with us. God bless you.

Roma: God bless you too, Jim. Thank you so much.

Sean Reed: And I think sometimes we have, like, spiritual amnesia. We forget about the goodness of God when we’re going through some of the darkest times, but how many times does God have to prove over again that He’s a prayer-answering God?

Jim: Hmm.

Sean: How many times did God show you His favor, give you a miracle, give you a breakthrough? At some point, we- we’ve been walking with God long enough to know that He’s God of the valley, and that He’s our shepherd and we lack no good thing. He is with us. He never leaves us and never forsakes us.

John Fuller: Well, that’s a profound statement from Pastor Sean Reed, as he reminds husbands and wives that God is always present with us in the good times and in the difficult times. We can really trust Him to guide us in the right path for our marriage. Welcome to another edition of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. We’re returning to a conversation we shared last time with Sean and his wife, Lanette, and, uh, they were participating in a marriage conference here in Colorado Springs. We wanted to bring you more of their insights today.

Jim: Uh, John, this conversation we shared last time from Sean and Lanette was awesome. I think you could hear it in that opening clip. Man, just powerful truth.

John: Mm-hmm.

Jim: Uh, they were very open and vulnerable about some early challenges they had in their relationship. I think a lot of us are gonna be able to relate to those things. Uh, for example, they began dating as teenagers and got pregnant before graduating from high school. When Sean and Lanette decided to get married, many people, including family members, thought they were making a huge mistake, and boy, I can only imagine if I were her dad, I would be saying that.

John: Mm-hmm.

Jim: “Wait a minute.” Uh, Sean admitted that he didn’t have good role models for being a husband and father, because he grew up in a broken home where his parents never married, and this young couple struggled to survive financially, and raise a family, and there were unexpected issues, like miscarriage and health problems along the way. But through it all, I love the but through it all part-

John: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … the Reeds have their faith in God to guide them and ground them, and we’ll hear a lot more about that today. If you missed the program last time, contact us about getting an audio copy of that or you can review the previous episode on YouTube, or best of all, get our broadcast app so you can access all the great radio and podcast content like this anytime.

John: Yeah, and, uh, we mentioned this last time. The Reeds have written a book that captures a great deal of their story. It’s called Marriage in Transition: Creating Connection Through Uncontrollable Change. We’ve got copies of that here. Just call 800, the letter A, and the word FAMILY or stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. And now, part two of the conversation with Sean and Lanette Reed on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.

Jim: You guys had a Denny’s restaurant experience-

Lanette: (laughs)

Sean: Yeah.

Jim: … where you mapped out on a napkin, I think, your life goals.

Sean: We did.

Lanette Reed: Yep. Yep.

Sean: Yeah.

Lanette: I- I wish we still had it to this day.

Jim: Oh, it would be great.

Lanette: I- that would-

Sean: Yeah.

Jim: So, just-

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: … but describe that environment. What age are you now going, “Okay, we need a plan”-

Sean: We were-

Jim: … and you pull out a napkin-

Sean: Yeah.

Jim: … and start drafting a plan?

Sean: So, when that- when that happened, no, we were in St. Louis at the time. So-

Lanette: Was Brittney born?

Sean: Mm-mmm. No. So, we were about 20 when this happened and we almost were about to have Brittney.

Lanette: Okay. Okay.

Sean: This is- this is kind of that transitional phase, and what happened was Lanette and I, as we were kinda in that- that season of first jobs, first apartment, you know, uh, but living in the hood, going through, you know, some tension between us, but at the same time, still watching a lot of our friends and family fall apart.

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: Hmm.

Sean: Something within us said, “Okay, well, we know this next wave of attacks is coming towards our marriage too. What’s gonna be the difference-

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: … maker? How will we overcome what’s gonna be different about us?” And on that day, we realized that we didn’t wanna settle for the routine-

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: … of kind of whatever, uh, society is handing to us as the norm-

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: … for a husband and a wife, and-

Lanette: Yeah. We- we were never the couple that wanted just the basic w- even just out of life, as individuals. That’s- that’s one of the things that drew us-

Sean: Mm-hmm.

Lanette: … towards one another, is we always wanted to do something beyond, bigger, have a higher expectation.

Sean: Yeah.

Jim: You know, in that context, as Christians, I mean, was it the bigger house, or was that a by-product? Uh, was it more-

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: … altruistic? Was it a bigger-

Sean: It was-

Jim: … bigger in the context of “What can I do for you, Lord?”

Sean: Yes. It was that. It was “What can I do for you, Lord?” and. When we considered the legacy we wanted to leave with our children, that’s when we began to dream about what type of house-

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: … what kind of quality, land ownership. When we looked at the Bible and we compared every patriarch, matriarch, God gave them land. So, in our minds, we were thinking to ourselves, well-

Lanette: Why can’t we? Yeah.

Sean: … that’s the only real estate. So, let’s get something that’s real. And so, we were dreaming, not just of a big house, great car, all of those things, ’cause those things will come and go. It was more so about what is the legacy that we will pass down? What can be inherited by the next generation-

Jim: Huh.

Sean: … when you think of Sean and Lanette, how will we be remembered when we’re gone? So, that was in us at 18.

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: Yeah, and I- I’m thinking of that three to five year plan, basically, off that napkin.

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: A lot of couples are going, especially in their 20s, are going, “I don’t got time to do that. I mean, I’m doing this, I’m doing that. We’re raising our one child-

Lanette: Yep.

Jim: … our two children.”

Sean: Yeah.

Jim: Um, what’s the importance of doing that to-

Sean: Oh, my gosh.

Jim: … actually bite the bullet and do it?

Sean: Listen-

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: … where … the, you know, Proverbs tells us where there’s no vision, that people perish. And so, the idea is, when I think of Lanette and I together, this is us being bound together. So long as we’re together, we’re seeing the same vision, we’re seeing the same destination and moving on a plan towards that same place. Nothing can separate us. And so, a vision is that thing that binds us together. And so, where you don’t have foresight of where you’re going-

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: … how can two walk together lest they be agreed? So, you’re walking in different directions-

Jim: Yeah.

Sean: … and then we’re surprised when all of a sudden, the marriages fall apart-

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: … and people call it irreconcilable difference. I don’t think it’s irreconcilable differences. I think that there was never a reconciled vision.

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: That-

Lanette: And so, some of the things we started writing down on that napkin, um, I know, for me, the first thing that I thought about was values and what do I value in life-

Sean: Yep.

Lanette: … and how do I want to create the culture of that value in my home. So, uh, it- this was something simple. We value health.

Sean: Right.

Lanette: Right? And so, as we started thinking, “Hey, if we value health and we want a long and healthy life, then I can’t be eating at McDonald’s, and then we sat there and, like, “Well, we probably shouldn’t be eating here at Denny’s either.”

Audience: (laughing)

Sean: Yeah.

Jim: I think it’s a little better.

Lanette: (laughs)

Sean: Yeah. Yeah.

Lanette: But it- it was small things like that that we started questioning, “What’s in your heart, what-

Sean: Yeah.

Lanette: … do you wanna see,” and then it led to, “Well, how can we change the culture in our home to reflect the values in our heart?”

Jim: Wow. The intentionality is what’s catching me, and again, just the ability to be that intentional about what you wanna do as a couple, as a family. I- I don’t know why we miss it, generally.

Sean: Well- well, I think genuinely, uh, for Lanette and I, we love, uh, strengths finders. Um, it’s a personality test and it really … it’s a phenomenal tool, a resource-

Jim: The strength- strength finder?

Sean: Strengths finders, yeah.

Jim: Okay.

Sean: You can go to Gallups.com and take the- the test, and you get your top five. Both Lanette and I have in our top five, belief, as a strength, and the idea behind belief is that we- we share this thought that everything that we do is connected to a greater purpose. So, I genuinely believe, and I don’t know how many of y’all believe it but I genuinely believe one day I’m gonna see God face to face.

Lanette: Yeah.

Audience: Amen.

Sean: Right? And I know that I’m making it in, not because of my good works, but I do believe that I will be held accountable for the good work that He called me to.

Jim: Hmm.

Sean: If God looks at the span of my life and He’s like, “Dude, you can do all of this and you can leave this kind of a legacy,” and I get to the end of, you know, the life that I’ve lived and I left 50% of what I could have contributed to this world in the tank because I was sitting on the couch watching a game. You know, I was wasting my time-

Jim: Huh.

Sean: And so, like, when I think about-

Jim: You know it’s Saturday and there’s some college football coming up?

Audience: (laughing)

Lanette: (laughs)

Sean: I mean, and- and- and there’s nothing wrong-

Jim: It’s killing me.

Sean: … with that, so long as that’s your Sabbath day-

Lanette: (laughs)

Sean: … and the rest of the week’s you were working. Right? You know, and so, I just-

Jim: Well, I did.

Sean: … I think about how many of my family and friends, I love them, I love them, and they have such great potential.

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: But I’ve watched them fall apart, physically-

Jim: Yeah.

Sean: … some of them, mentally-

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: … and a large part of it was because they’re so focused on the now or couldn’t move on past their past-

Jim: Yeah.

Sean: … and they didn’t build for their future, and in doing so, they were trapped in a state of misery.

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: And so, I-

Jim: Yeah.

Sean: … believe that there’s a sense of joy and fulfillment when you’re doing what God has called and created you to do, and it doesn’t matter what your age or stage in life. Right? As long as you sucking wind, God has purpose for you.

Jim: (laughs)

Sean: And so, you have to dream forward and you have to have a vision and a plan as to what you’re putting your hands to together as a couple.

Jim: Yeah. Uh, that is really good. I mean, you’re … that, in a nutshell, is the way we should pursue life.

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: Absolutely.

Jim: Right? Um, in- in the book, you mention, uh, one of the greatest dysfunctions, this may have been your podcast, one of the greatest dysfunctions in marriage today is the failure to see each other through the lens of grace. We’ve touched on that but I wanna come back to it-

Sean: Okay.

Jim: … um, that idea of grace. Do you know who Jean is married to?

Sean: (laughs)

Jim: For her to extend that grace-

Lanette: (laughs)

Jim: … is really high order.

Sean: Yeah.

Jim: You get the idea. I flipped that for you. Is that good? (laughing)

Sean: Well, one of the- the keys that we found is that my goal, my heart, and it took me a while to do this, because when I’m in my feelings, when I’m in my- my own pity party, it’s about what Lanette didn’t do for me, it’s about how she didn’t do what I asked her to do, and I- I finger-point. Right?

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: Uh, but Jesus gives us a warning about that when He talks about, you know, you’re complaining about the spec and your spouse’s eye while you have a log in your own. So, there’s this level of humility that comes and how do you get to that level of humility to where you begin to see your spouse through a lens of grace?

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: And part of it is, it goes back to when I was saved, and I had that vision of what Jesus did on my behalf and I couldn’t earn it, and a lot of us don’t wanna give the best of ourselves to our spouse until they earn it.

Lanette: Hmm.

Sean: We don’t give them the best of ourselves until we see their best hand put forth, their best foot put forth, and it’s just, like, but that’s not what we do with Jesus. He gives us a relationship before we ever earned it. He maintains the relationship with us even though we don’t deserve it. So, the goal for me is to fight for the gold in my wife, even when I don’t see it all the time. I have to look at her and say, “How does God see Lanette right now?” And when He looks at Lanette, that’s His daughter. She’s robed in white. She’s pure and holy in His sight. He literally calls her the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. His Word would say that she’s the apple of His eye, meaning that God’s pupil, so to speak, would have her in it. He can’t open His eyeball without seeing my wife.

Jim: Hmm.

Sean: And when He sees her, He favors her. I don’t wanna mess up with God’s daughter.

Audience: (laughing)

Sean: You hear me? So, I- so, that challenges me to look at her, not through the lens of her failures-

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: … but to look at to her through the lens of the Lord, and to say, “Okay, she’s robed in righteousness. Let me treat her how a King’s daughter should be treated, even though sometimes she’s at her worst, she’s not giving me her best.” The truth is, she’s been that for me and then some, and she deserves the best, even when she may be at her worst.

John: This is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, and our guests are Sean and Lanette Reed, who are describing their marriage journey with us. Now, one resource that Focus has for husbands and wives is our free online marriage assessment. It’s a really simple tool designed to help you and your spouse get on the same page, in terms of understanding your priorities and your goals and how you communicate. It’s a really, uh, wonderful tool. It’s free and you’ll find the assessment at our website, focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. Let’s go ahead and hear more, now, from Sean and Lanette Reed on today’s episode of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.

Jim: Grit. Oh-

Lanette: Oh, yeah.

Jim: … this is another one I love.

Sean: Me too.

Jim: I’m kind of a John Wayne fan. Sorry, but-

Sean: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … you know, that- that- the conjuring up of an image, it’s like grit.

Sean: True grit.

Jim: True grit.

Lanette: (laughs)

Sean: Okay.

Jim: Uh, but in a spiritual context-

Sean: Yeah.

Jim: … I mean, the truest of grit is having grit within your relationship with the Lord.

Lanette: Sure.

Jim: So, what does that mean in marriage? What does that look like to have grit?

Sean: Oh, man. There’s so much I wanna say to this subject. Uh, first off, Scripture say, “He that faints in the day of adversity, his strength is small.” That’s a powerful statement.

Jim: Hmm.

Sean: That when we go through and Jesus tells us that we will go through difficult time, that we need to have our house build on the rock. The storm is coming. When Jesus says that if you build on His Word, and you follow His Word, you’ll be able to stand when the winds come, when the waves come, when the flood comes in. A storm is coming, and for some of us, uh, some of y’all in this room, some of y’all listening, it’s been back to back.

Lanette: Hmm.

Sean: It’s been wave after wave, one transition after another, another, you know, set of bad news after another. Grit is the ability to say, “I got your back. Do you have my back?”

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: We gonna stand through this, and come hell or high water, we’re gonna stand on the Word of God and I will support you and I want you to support me. But we will not quit on one another and we’re not gonna quit on God.”

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: Because He was there for us and you’ve been there for me and I will not forget it.

Lanette: Hmm.

Sean: And I think sometimes we have, like, spiritual amnesia. We forget about the goodness of God when we’re going through some of the darkest times, but how many times does God have to prove over again that He’s a prayer-answering God?

Jim: Hmm.

Sean: How many times did God show you His favor, give you a miracle, give you a breakthrough? At some point, we’ve been walking with God long enough to know that He’s God of the valley and that He’s our shepherd and we lack no good thing. He is with us. He never leaves us and never forsakes us.

Jim: Yeah. Wow.

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: That’s good.

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Jim: So, Lanette, how you gonna-

Lanette: Yeah. So, for me-

Jim: … speak to us, there.

Lanette: … I- I wish every, um, married person … or, you know, even every single, just even going back to where you’re single. I wish people knew the importance of generational legacy-

Sean: Yes.

Lanette: … and I wish they understood that, um, our God thinks generationally. He doesn’t just think in the moment. And when you come together, husband and wife comes together, there is a goal, there is a promise, there’s a purpose that is bigger than the moment that you’re going through-

Sean: Yes.

Lanette: … and if you can just stay put just a little bit longer, if you can dre- even in the midst of your chaos, if you can dream about the future, if you could look at your child who has taken your last nerve-

Sean: (laughing)

Lanette: … and but just imagine what God’s blessing on top of that child, God’s anointing on that child, what He could do for them in the future, what He can do through them in the future. If we could … through every situation, every trouble, if we can just slap God’s perspective on it-

Sean: Mm-hmm.

Lanette: … then I think we’ll be able to witness and participate in those moments where God wants to do amazing things.

Sean: Yeah.

Lanette: But because we’re short-sighted-

Sean: Yep.

Lanette: … and because we only think about the moment, and because we are selfish, then we- we just kinda opt out-

Sean: Mm-hmm.

Lanette: … of God’s blessing and it is so disheartening and it is so disappointing. And so, what I would love to do is to be able to change the mindset of people when they get married, or if they’re thinking about marriage, I wanna say, “Keep in mind that God has generational blessing-

Sean: Yes.

Lanette: … on top of you-

Sean: Yes.

Lanette: … and He wants to bless your children’s children’s children-

Sean: Mm-hmm.

Lanette: … and if you can just hold out, of you can just wait, if you can just stick it out a little longer, you’ll begin to walk through it.”

Jim: Oh, that is perfect. How beautiful. It really does go back to that garden thing. (laughs)

Sean: Yes.

Lanette: Mm-hmm.

Sean: Yes.

Jim: But, you know, we’re walking with the Lord when we’re walking like that-

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: … and when we’re not, we’re outside of His-

Sean: Yep.

Jim: … you know, range.

Lanette: Yeah.

Jim: So-

Sean: And His whole goal was so that we would be fruitful and multiply, and I don’t think the fruitful and multiplication was just about procreation. It was that we were supposed to rule and subdue.

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: And at the end of the day, okay, let me say this, this is- this is-

Lanette: (laughs)

Jim: This is a great last question.

Lanette: (laughs)

Sean: Yeah. So- so, think about it. God created Adam and Eve in His image, right, Imago Dei. So, the idea is they’re made in His image and likeness. One of the ways that I like to phrase Adam and Eve, they are a representation of God.

Jim: Hmm.

Sean: They are His ambassadors in the earth. You know what an ambassador does. They represent another nation, another country, or- or the home country on foreign soil. And so, God was like, “Hey, I have my soil. I- I rule the heavens. I want a representation of Myself to rule and reign on the earth.” Earth is our home.

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: God, He’s got His space. He created a place for us. That’s why Eve and, in Revelation, what do we get? At the end of the day, you got life forever with God, but we’re not stuck in Heaven. You get a new Heaven and earth.

Lanette: Yeah.

Sean: We’re gonna live on earth forever. And so, the idea is, He wants us to rule and reign on the earth and what is the institution that He uses to host His presence and His power?

Lanette: Marriage.

Sean: Marriage.

Jim: Uh-huh.

Sean: And it is still the way, when He has a husband and a wife that are walking in unity with His voice and His presence, God takes His image and He stamps it in the earth, and for every family that walks in His presence and power-

Lanette: Hmm.

Sean: … He stamps His image in that neighborhood. He stamps His image on that business.

Lanette: That’s good.

Sean: He stamps His image on those kids so that everywhere your family goes, when they think of your name, and when they see your legacy, they see the image and likeness and the glory of God.

Lanette: That was great.

Jim: That is good. (laughs)

Lanette: That was really good.

Sean: That’s it right there.

John: Well, that’s how we finished, uh, this two-part conversation with Pastor Sean Reed and his wife, Lanette, on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. What a powerful conclusion, Jim, from Sean.

Jim: It really was and I couldn’t agree with him any more. I mean, we need to have a bigger perspective about marriage today. It’s not just about you and your spouse. There’s so much more at stake. It’s about your witness for the Lord before the world and people are watching your marriage. They’re watching all of our marriages. Your kids are watching, most importantly. Your friends, your neighbors, they’re watching too, and they want to see if the faith you profess in Jesus Christ is real. And believe me, I get it. Sometimes we feel weak and we are not as strong as we need to be, but we need to work toward being stronger, and that’s what this program is about today. Here at Focus on the Family, we want you to become an effective witness for Christ when you’re talking and when you’re not talking. (laughs)

John: Mm-hmm.

Jim: Right?

John: Yeah.

Jim: And that’s why we’re sharing this program today and pointing you to resources like the Reed’s book, Marriage in Transition: Creating Connection Through Uncontrollable Change. I wanna put a copy of this into your hands. Uh, make a monthly pledge of any amount to Focus and we’ll send it right out to you as our way of saying thank you for being part of the ministry. And, uh, you know, it’s a two-for. You get a great resource and you support, um, fixing and helping to point people to Christ in their broken marriages. I can’t imagine any of the other for-profit companies doing that-

John: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … with the proceeds. Right?

John: Right. Right, and a monthly pledge, uh, really does help us meet the needs of couples and families all year long. Uh, hundreds of thousands of men and women contact Focus on the Family every year for help in marriage preparation or to work through a crisis in their relationship, or maybe to help another couple they know who, uh, need to have a stronger, healthier marriage.

Jim: Well, and that’s why we’re inviting you to join our Friends of Focus on the Family team. Uh, we have about 50,000 people, monthly, that support, but, you know, it covers a portion of the ministry, and we want to keep growing that very effective and important group within Focus on the Family. That’s how Jean and I support the ministry. That’s how you and Dena support the ministry, John.

John: We do, yeah.

Jim: It’s just, it evens the things out for us for planning purposes. We know the dollars that we can count on and it really helps us. If a monthly pledge is more than you can afford right now, uh, a one-time gift helps, obviously. This is fuel for the engine of ministry. And so, it’s how it gets done, God’s people being, uh, you know, urged in their heart to send a gift to Focus so we can have a marriage saved, help an orphan child, help save a baby’s life from abortion. That’s what all those proceeds go to, and so much more.

John: Yeah. We appreciate your partnership and generosity, and our number is 800-232-6489, 800, the letter A, and the word FAMILY. Or you can donate and request your copy of Marriage in Transition at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. And another resource we have for you is our free marriage assessment. It’s an online survey, very easy to take. It enables you and your spouse to kinda get on the same page, in terms of what’s working well in the relationship and maybe an area or two of improvement, and all the details about that free marriage assessment are online. And coming up tomorrow, some practical help for men who want to become better fathers to their sons.

Preview:

Brian Becker: And here I had this job, I really enjoyed the work. I was good at it. It paid me well, but I could not be a good dad. I couldn’t be a good husband, being out of the house half of the time, and within six months, I had a different job.

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