Don't get down when you're seeing the worst
Cause the last will be the first
What a day I'm telling you
All things will be new
Living up in a down world
Yeah we're living, yeah we're living
Living up in a down world
Oh
This is Gene and Ed
We are excited to be with you again
Finally back into a weekend routine
This is episode number 51
That reminds me of Area 51
You know about Area 51?
Oh yeah, Roswell, New Mexico
Well, ish
Ish
It's out more...
That is close
I thought it was around Las Vegas
No, it's Roswell
No, no, no
Adam the Podfather, Curry will correct this one
Okay, I used to go to Roswell as a child every year
But that's not where Area 51 is
It is, it's that area
Okay, I'm stopping the podcast
No you're not
Cause this is bad
The news has ran off the rails
I'm serious, no I'm not gonna stop it
But really, it's lost
Okay, I'm gonna look it up
No, Google it
I'm gonna Google it right now
Chat GPT
Oh my gosh
No, no, no, I'm kidding
Oh, you know who would kill us
Hey, well, I'm not Tina
Hey, welcome to our podcast
This is Jimmy and Ed
We are Living Up in a Down World
And check us out at livingupinadownworld.com
And Annette is...
Dame Annette is all over Google right now
Roswell, Area 51, Aliens
No way
Honey, Las Vegas, where in the world are you getting that from?
Well, it does say Nevada right here too
So, because we have a friend who will go in name
Because he's classified
Who worked at the non-existent Area 51
Well, why is it that when we go through...
But they flew out of Las Vegas in and out every day to this base that does not exist
I don't know what I'm talking about
You don't, girl, but I love you
And you're beautiful by the way
No, I'm serious, you are stunning
Oh, wow, sound effects
No, thank you Adam Curry for the cool sound effects
So why did I think it was...
Because there is something out there
No, Roswell is where apparently...
Aliens
No, they said...
Well, okay, there's this theory
Or maybe an account
I don't know, somebody will probably talk to me about it
But where there was a spaceship
A UFO that crashed
And supposedly there were actually alien bodies that were extricated
Then all of that was apparently taken to Area...
Well, the non-existent Area 51
You know, the place it doesn't exist
Right
So there's a lot of stories around that
But anyway, all that to say, this is episode number 51
Well, I totally messed that one up, didn't I?
Well, I mean, I was trying to be sweet
And then you just...
Do we need to cut this and start over?
No, we're rolling with it
This is real life, baby
This is unedited
This is us
Unscripted
This is us
Unedited
Hey, we love you guys
Man, we got some sweet notes this week
And just tons of encouragement
Wait, wait, wait
I have to stop
Yeah, stop
Today is your birthday
Oh, happy birthday to me
And...
Oh, wait, do you even have...
You know what?
I got rid of my applause button
Because I replaced it with this
K-Y-V-O
Keep your buckets overflowing
K-Y-V-O
Do that Mickey bucket
K-K-K-Keep your bucket
Oh, it's going
K-K-Keep your bucket
Well, I love that because
It's so cheesy, but I love it
It's Tina and Adam
Right
I love it
On that jingle
But that's your motto in life
It is so my motto
So it's very apropos for your birthday
But I want to give a big shout out to
Sir T.J. the Wrathful
Yes
He's one of the Dorphil Gang
And just such a cool guy
His songs
Such a great band
The songs they sing
These guys are amazing, the Dorphils
Check them out
You can find them on
I know they've got their newest video
It's a song called They Don't Know
Which is my favorite song that they've done
It's called They Don't Know
They have a great video of it on YouTube
So check it out
Because it is really good
But Sir T.J.'s one of...
It's a huge fan
Is he the one that did this jingle?
He did this jingle
And he did...
I've got another version of it
K-Y-V-O
It's a short version
So that's a short version
Wow, that is short
So if I just want to do a quick hit
I can do that
So I was looking for
Because I was like
It's okay, it's my birthday, right?
So we need to have some kind of...
No
No, that didn't do it either
You need to celebrate
I mean, not everybody celebrates
Alright, it is Jimmy
Pastor Jimmy Pruitt's birthday
Way to go, Pastor Jimmy
62,000 years of age
62,000
Oh, 62
Okay, there
You're so funny
Wow
I know
Oh, I'm still on
Oh, you're still on
How are you going to get rid of it?
I'm just going to leave it there
The whole show
No
I know
I have too much fun with these pads
Thanks to Adam Curry
I nerd out on these
Yes
By the way, you...
You already said it
I said it already
I've got to say it again
Why?
I think it's the new lighting in the studio
We're in the Living Up studio
We've got it lit as if we're doing a video podcast
It is legit
But we're not doing that yet
It is lit, alright
It is lit
So the lighting, is it taking away my wrinkles?
What wrinkles?
Oh, very good
What wrinkles?
That was a good answer
So, it's my day today
Happy birthday to me
So what are we going to do?
It's only a number
What are we going to do?
We're going to do our podcast
I mean, for your birthday
We're doing stuff I love to do
I love to do this
Well, that's true
I mean, I really do
I miss...
Oh, man, I'm so happy to be back in a rhythm
and doing it on a weekly basis
Yeah, well, Adam Curry pretty much spanked us
He's like, you really...
And he didn't...
I don't know if he said it to me
But he said it through Tina to me
Adam really doesn't like the fact that y'all are not doing this weekly
Well, I didn't like it either
Well, you know what we did?
We were changing our staff meeting to Wednesdays
so we could do this on Tuesdays and then get it out there on Wednesdays
Definitely
So, we're working on it
This is way better
I already feel better
I mean, when we made this decision
I felt such peace because I love the people that we're talking to
I mean, I love the feedback
We're more fresh in the morning as well
Well, that's true
Yeah, I don't know how Adam and Tina do it at night
I'm done
Well, we did ours last week
Last Thursday night
We did do Thursday night
We did have a lot of energy
We did
Which was not normal for us
That's true
But today, it was really...
It's really good
So, we're just changing our...
I'm thrilled to be doing it on my birthday
We're changing our work schedule so that we can do this for our fun, I guess
Our other work
That's what we love to do
This is our second job
Yeah
You know, job...
Is it a job if you love what you're doing?
That's true
Does it really work?
No, we love...
This is a labor of love
Because we love people
We love helping
And we want...
We believe it's possible
Jesus taught us how to pray
Remember it in the Lord's model prayer?
He said, on earth as it is in heaven
Well, now, the way we say it in church is in earth
Well, that's the old King James version
But you know what?
I do love that we do that every week
Because it kind of sets up the sermon for us to really hear it
Because we're praying that...
Praying God's will
Yeah, I remember
And then we're listening
True
And I remember Dr. Mark Rutland, the way he says it is
21 seconds to change your life
Right
And so, we've incorporated the Lord's model prayer into our weekly sermon setup
I do that, I get up
We pray for the peace of Israel as the Lord commands us to do
Because we're friends of Israel
And I don't care who doesn't like it
We're grafted into that vine and Jesus was Jewish
So, it is what it is
And so, we're going to continue to always support and pray for
We support them financially through our church
The great ministry called Israel Media Ministries
Who did an amazing job on your testimony video
I've had a lot of good feedback
Great feedback
People are really touched by that
And if you haven't seen that
You can find that on YouTube
And all you have to do is go to Israel Media Ministries
And look for Annette's face
It's right there at the beginning
It's one of the first
It's the last one they did
They're working on mine right now
But honey
I can't wait to hear yours
You did such a good job
Thank you
Listen, the production guy in the studio
That was hired to do that video was crying
I know, I know
It was very moving
He was crying
He was like, wow
Which is crazy
Because I wasn't too, really much
I was really trying to be focused
It's beautiful
I fell apart watching it
It was real
You did
Yeah, we were watching it
And you just seeing it with the music
And they added these vignettes to it
And it just brought it all back to you in a big way
And there's so much more to the story
But you can only say so much
It's only a few minutes long, right
So, like seven, eight minutes long or something
Ten minutes
Yes, yes
So, go check it out
Israel Media Ministries on YouTube
Check out Annette's testimony video
This is my story
Powerful
In fact, it was called
From desperation to deliverance
Yes
From desperation to deliverance
I had to think about it
Because I hadn't looked at it in the last few days
But anyway, super proud of you, babe
You're a rock star
Thank you
I appreciate that
Totally a rock star
Yeah
Keep your buckets overflowing
You do
So, welcome to the show
Gosh, 62, it's just a number, right
Right
I feel amazing
This has to lead right into a carnivore conversation
Short version
But we had dinner with some friends of ours
Pastor Eddie Freeman and his wife
Jessica
Jessica from Gateway Church up in Southlake
And he's what we call a relational pastor
Because we're a part of the Gateway Network
We're not an actual Gateway Church
But we're just a part of the
We relate to the bigger networks
It's a network of about 100
And probably by now, 170 churches or so
Yes
And we all connect for fellowship
And resourcing and best practices and all that
So he was
They were in town yesterday
So we had lunch with them
And the carnivore thing came up
Are you thirsty over there?
I am
Sorry, I had to get a drink
It's okay
So we had a carnival conversation
Because we sat down to eat
And we ordered a double meat burger with bacon
And sunny side up eggs
Or over easy eggs
And no sides
And they're like, what is this that you're doing?
And they said, y'all look amazing
And so, well, we're 200
Yesterday was 209 days
It's day 210, but who's counting?
So 210 today
I can't believe you're counting
I'm keeping up with it
I have a journal every day
So I just keep it in my journal
So I know right where we are
Because it has been so impactful for us
And so life-changing
That it's important to document
Speaking of documentation
We're going to be in a documentary movie
Right
Coming up called Healing Humanity
And it's being produced by Carrie Mann
He is one of the influencers in the carnivore space
And yeah, they reached out to us
And so we'll be doing that interview in May
They're going to come to our studio here
And we'll do
I think we're doing
It'll be a video
It's moving
More early June
Because of that weekend in May
We're going to Nashville
Right
So it's right on the edge there
On the edge there
Yeah
So anyway
Super excited about that
And excited because
This has been a game changer for our health
Yes
So what did we eat last night?
I mean, this is crazy
So we had the double burger with bacon
Avocado
We did do a little avocado
Which is not carnivore
Just to add a little fat
I don't mind having good fat
Every once in a while like that
I just had like a slice
It was tiny
But anyway
We did that
And so you'd think
Wow, that was a big meal
So we get home
Oh my goodness
For dinner
I did two Chuck-Eye steaks
And two New York strips
Two New York strips
I mean it completely covered the platter
And we ate almost all of that
We did
Or did we eat all of it?
Yeah, there was some fat on it
That you didn't eat
But man
I was in carnivore heaven
Yes
But what does that do for our body?
It's jet fuel for our body
And when your body only has to process one food
What?
Nothing
Keep going
When your body only has to process one food
I mean it's
It's just so much better for you
You have energy
Yeah, it doesn't take you out
So anyway
Carvajalini is going great
And so yeah
It's always fun telling people about it
They always look at you like
What?
You mean you can't
No sugar
You don't have dessert
Oh well
What about wine?
Everybody wants to know
What about wine?
Can you have wine?
You have a brood every once in a while
Something that's
A little champagne maybe
That's non-sugar
Just not every
Just not regular
Yeah, not regular
Yeah, just enjoy it
It's actually better when you have space in between
Right
Anyway
So yeah
So man
God has been up to some cool stuff
The waves of revival are really starting to happen
We're seeing massive growth in our church
We're seeing doors open up
We already talked about going to three services
Which has been exhausting
Okay
So we didn't know how exhausting this was going to be
And on Sunday
Mentally
It's more mentally than physical
Because when we were driving off
You said I am exhausted
I actually felt good on Sunday
Well I think it's just all the people that were meeting
And ministering too in between services
And it was
Yes, I was
I took a nap
You didn't
You were wiped out
I fell asleep
We just turned on an HGTV show
And literally within minutes I was out
You were gone
I just, yeah
It's more exhausting than I thought it would be
So I started a new series this Sunday called Mind Wars
Winning the Battle of the Mind
And I'm telling you that
That was a hard hitter for people because
People don't really stop to think about
What they're thinking about
And it's a quote from Pastor Steve Berger
From Tennessee who said, this is years ago
He said we have to start thinking about what we're thinking about
Have you ever thought about that?
Wow
I mean really
Well yes
Just because
I mean we've talked about this so much
About the battlefield that's in between our ears
And that's in our mind
And how it can affect every area of our life
There was a book written in 1995
Do you know who wrote that book?
Yes, oh yeah
Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind
The Battlefield of the Mind
That was a huge book for us
Yes it was
And I think that was one of her earlier big books
Oh yeah
But to me one of her best
And it talks about the war
The assault on our minds that's coming at us
When you think about
I mean if you listen to No Agenda
Which a lot of our friends here are No Agenda listeners
No Agenda is a fantastic podcast by Adam Curry and John Dvorak
About they do media deconstruction
And so if you listen to them
You will begin to really see patterns that
What we're being fed by mainstream media is a load
It's just not
There's little to no truth
Or it's twisted or warped truth
Or it's their version of what they want us to hear
Exactly
And so there's an assault on our mind on a regular basis
Whether it's through that thing you hold in your hand
Called a phone
Or your tablet or your whatever
You know your computer
That's coming at us all the time
Commercials on TV
I mean everything is designed to capture your mind
And yet we
The Bible says we've been given the mind of Christ
And so at some point we have to say
Am I going to become the gatekeeper or the guardian of my mind
Or am I just going to be passive
And let down my guard and let everything come into me
That wants to come into me
And people don't think about that
We don't think about what we're thinking about
Because what was the term that we used to say a lot
When we watched a lot of TV
We'd say I just need to vege
As though we could watch this passively
And not let it affect us
Yes
Well I remember when we were watching TV
Things started getting worse and worse and worse
And finally if you'll remember
One time I decided
Let's start fast forwarding through these parts
So 15, 20 years ago
You didn't really think about it that much
We didn't have the capability of doing that for one
We didn't have DVR, that's right
But now with everything
It's gotten so much worse
What dawned on us one day is that we were fast forwarding through
More of the show than we were watching
And I was like, okay, there's a tipping point here
Where it's ridiculous
Because the premise of the shows has changed so much
And there's so much violence out there
And for me, because I like justice
I like shows, dramas, real life shows
I like the datelines and all that
I really like that
Because I like to see how it gets solved
I like to solve it while I'm watching it play out
Honestly, I could have been an investigator
Oh, you are an investigator
If I need somebody's cyber stock
I'd just say, Daymanette
Could you go check out
As a profession, I really could have gone into that
Because I, or forensic science or anything like that
Because I enjoy that
But what it was doing to my mind and my emotions
It was causing fear, too much fear
So give some examples of how that manifested in our daily life
The fear that you're talking about coming in
I would, you know, as soon as it started to get dusk
I would say, we've got to shut all the blinds
And I was just constantly thinking about people lurking outside
There was just so much fear that just entered my heart
And it was devastating
I remember you would be like
Dreams, bad dreams
Bad dreams, you have horrible dreams
And then you'd say things to me like
Did you check the doors?
Did you check the doors? And it got to be
At first it was kind of like
Oh, honey, I got this, I got this
But then I noticed it moved more obsessive
To where it was like
You were paranoid about it
Well, there were times when the garage door didn't get shut
So obviously that can
And then we didn't lock the back door
But it got obsession
It became an obsession
That's understandable
And that's when I finally said
We need to do something about this
So in terms of the battlefield of the mind
And these mind wars
How has that impacted you from some of the trauma
That you experienced as a child and as an adult?
How have those things play into the mind?
Well, for one, I have to change the way I viewed what happened to me
Oh, good
Because if I view it as just violence
And I don't see the compassion that God actually had
While I was in that situation
Or the compassion he had for the people that were the victimizers
It was when I did change my view of contempt
For my family members or an ex-husband
To compassion because there is something that had to have happened
To them, to get them to the place where violence was caused on us
And havoc was reaped
How did things that were said to you by what I would call perpetrators
Things that were said to you by someone that you should have been coming from love
Someone that you could trust, that you were safe with, that you were loved
How did what you were called, what you were told, or what was done to you
How did it impact you in your mind, in your thinking?
It devastated me at the time and for many years
I remember I was at a movie theater
And I was there with my ex and another couple
And we were sitting there waiting for the movie to begin
And the wife made a comment to me in front of everyone about my weight
She said, oh my gosh, you're so thin and you look so good
And my ex made a comment that stuck with me to this day
And this was, I was probably, I would say 18, 19 years of age
And he said, well, when she takes off her clothes, it just, it all falls out
So basically she's hiding her weight
And it, I mean I was probably all of maybe 105 pounds
Oh wow
Yeah, I was never that big at that time
That's where you are now
Oh, I'm not far off
You're real close
Not far off
You're real close
But anyway, but the thing is, is it affected me for years upon years upon years
And you know, Tina talks about it on her podcast about body dysmorphia
Boy, did I ever have that because of what he said
Those words
You and millions of other women
Yes
I know, it's so devastating
It was devastating
And I had to get to the point where I could be comfortable with myself
At a larger weight, which I've never
I don't think any women, any woman is really comfortable with themself
I don't know if we ever really get comfortable
Or content
Because we, magazines, TV, the media has just really
Porn
Yes, porn
All of that
It's played mind games with us and we feel like we're never perfect enough
But those words coming from a man who supposedly loved me and cherished me
Just devastated me
And it really wasn't until I began a really stronger walk in the Lord
Where I was mature enough to brush it off
I mean, I still remember it, but the pain of it's not there
And then I marry you and you just say the opposite
Of course, you've never said a mean thing to me in 31 years
Can I park it right here?
Yes
I'm going to segue a little bit
Okay
How did these mind games, these head games
These negative, stinking, thinking, the zig-zag they used to say
How did all that play into our early years of marriage?
Because one of the things we wanted to mention and talk about was the power of intimacy
So I'm thinking about how the role that the mind plays in intimacy
So share an example of, do you remember the night we were in bed?
Like right after we got married
Is this going to be R rated or G rated?
No, this is safe, safe TV, safe podcasting
So no, it was the night that you accidentally hit me
Yes
And what did you do?
Well, I
You rolled over or something and bumped me
No, I did, it was something by accident
And literally I pulled my arms up as if I was trying to protect myself from what you were about to do to me
I know
I would have done that even on accident to my ex
He would have
So you had a Pavlov's reaction
Yes, and he did too
That was so sad because he didn't think you don't hurt a woman or anybody
But he reacted
But obviously he had something going on
And we're not here to slam our exes or anything like that
This is reality
But what I'm saying is I'm sure it was something from his own childhood that caused him to become that way
I've thought about that a lot
Yeah, I mean people don't just overnight become evil or mean or
Reactive
Raging
There is something that causes that
Well, I remember that night because I looked at you and I said, what are you doing?
And I said, you're not going to hit me back or hurt me?
And you were like, what?
Yeah, that was like days into our marriage
And I was like, of course not
That would never even enter my mind
It was an accident
But the fact, so thinking about head games, thinking about how the mind works
We realized very quickly in our new marriage that we have some things to overcome
And it took us a couple of years
For one, I didn't trust you
Because I had no reason
Because I was a scoundrel
To trust anybody after what I'd been through, you were not
But I didn't have, I mean
Because of growing up with my father, growing up with my ex
Men in my life, I always had issues everywhere I worked
It was like I had a symbol on my forehead that says victim
Victimize her because she can take it, you know, kind of thing
And it was hard because I was always
Well, in a very real sense, you were beat down emotionally
Not physically necessarily, some of that
But mostly you were emotionally and psychologically beat down
To the point where when we came together
And I realized very quickly, you were very open with me too
Our conversations were straight up
You needed to know what you were getting yourself into
And you know what, I knew that
I weighed the cost, so to speak
I'm like, there's gold in those hills
I saw you, I'm like, there is gold in there
How Jesus sees us, which you saw the perfection in me
That's how Jesus, he doesn't see the sin
He sees us perfected, he sees us whole
I can tell you where it happened
Where?
It was when Tony Gibson was leading worship
At Indiana Avenue Baptist Church on an evening
And I saw tears rolling down your cheeks during worship
So you knew there was a tenderness there
I was done, that was it
That was all I needed to know
But you didn't know what you were getting yourself into
My attitude was, that's all I need to know
The rest is negotiable
We'll navigate life together
And I was all in, I was in from that moment forward
But a lot of things were hard for me
Because of, you know, your past can really dictate your future
There you go, there's the head games again, right?
This is the mind thing
And so when you go into your future
You're always looking back at what has happened to you
What's reoccurring
True
And you can tend to stay in those same patterns
Or you can get a new mindset
Which Romans 12, 2 says, change the way you think
Be transformed by changing the way you think
Yes, and so I had to get to that point
Where I had to allow the Lord to change my stinking thinking
To what you want from me as a husband and as a wife
What you want from us is true intimacy, true love
Safe love
Where it's safe, you're not going to
We're not name calling
We're not forcing one another to partake in intimacy
At the wrong time
Or you know what I'm saying?
And so that was a learning process based on what my whole past was
So how did having those mind battles, those mind games
How did it impact your capacity for intimacy?
I mean you had it, it was there, you wanted to be loved
You wanted to love
You know it's a desire
But you struggled, there was a wall
I did, it's an innate desire to be loved
Absolutely
But then you've got that distrust
You're so afraid to allow yourself to let go
It's going to happen again
Yes
I'm going to get betrayed
Yes
I'm going to get hurt
Absolutely
And so we build up these walls and this resistance to the very thing we need
Which is love and connection
And to feel safe with one another
But you know what? I struggle too
I mean you talk about me like you married the perfect guy
I didn't, you married a guy who was damaged
I was hurt
I never saw that kind of damage
Well not the same kind of damage
I'm a dude too
So being a man, it's a different level of impact
And maybe it manifests in different ways
But I always kept this attachment-detachment thing
Where I was attached but I was detached
And again of course I was the oldest son
I got all this kid syndrome
I'm pretty independent by nature
Then you factor in that, that my first wife left me
Right
High and dry
Which I thanked her for
Because I can't understand that
It so wounded me though
And I just felt completely worthless and rejected
That's where I was like how can she leave this man who is
I mean okay you're not perfect, perfect
But you're as close as anyone I've ever known in my life
About to turn this microphone off
I love you so much
We do have the door shut
And locked
But we're at the church
We've got a lot happening
That would be kind of weird
There's so much going on right now
You'll probably hear stuff
But honestly for me
When I'm contrasting you with past men in my life
You were perfect
So for me it was even hard for me to live up to that
They made it easy for me to be truthful
I mean because you had had a run of bad things
The enemy, by the way
There's a very real enemy
Friends, family, listeners
There's a real enemy
The enemy of your soul
And he wants you dead
He wants you marginalized
He wants you ineffective for the kingdom of God
And so Annette, Dame Annette
You had had so many hits
So many attacks
It's because the enemy knows the potential that's in you
And that if you were ever to discover it
It would be Katie bar the door on the things of the kingdom
So the enemy tries to devastate, destroy, kill, steal, and destroy
John 10, 10
The enemy comes except to kill, steal, and destroy
Jesus said, I came down
You might have life and have it to the full
More abundant
So we know that to be true
So all of you right now that feel like your life has been one
One devastating moment after another
One trauma after another
One let down
One disappointment
One discouragement after another
Let me tell you something
The higher the capacity of potential in your life
To make a difference in this world for Jesus
And for the kingdom of God
The higher your capacity and potential
The more the enemy tries to destroy you
That is absolutely true
Before you ever realize that potential
There's the mind war
And that's why you have to stay in the word
And you have to let the word work in your life
There you go
You don't read the word and then walk away and forget it
It's like looking in the mirror and forgetting what you look like
When you walk out
Bring out the book
Yes, you've got to allow that word to permeate in your heart
So that you can walk it out
I love the book of James
It says, don't be hearers only
Be doers of the word
And so you have to
You can't allow those things from the past
To hinder you from your future
He has a beautiful future for you
You just have to cooperate
That grace movement that says you don't have to do anything is wrong
We have to cooperate
That takes work to do that
We have to do something that some people don't like to use this word anymore
Obey
Obey, yes
We read what God says and we do what we're supposed to do
I mean it's really so simple we miss it
But in this world and culture we've been trained to resist
Anything that's telling us what to do
And it's getting worse
Oh, the resistance is strong
Which means we have to get stronger
Yeah, I love that
And the only way to get strong is to get into the meat of the word
And become mature believers, not immature
Or unbelieving believers
I think that's one of the things we heard from Joyce Meyer years ago
There's too many unbelieving believers and we need to be believers of the word
And that means every aspect of the Bible
So can I quote Romans 12, too?
And do not be conformed to this world
That word conform means to be pressed into that shape
To conform, to become the form of what's being pressed
So do not be pressed, conformed to this world
But be transformed
That means to change your shape, the way you look, the way you act
Everything about you is changed, transformed
Transformers
So do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
By changing the way you think
Now let's fast forward
I think we should go back and talk about our first year of marriage
And some of the terrible foibles
I know it got hard
But let's fast forward to now
Because it's my birthday
Did I mention that earlier?
So I'm 62 years young
It is just a number
I've never felt better in my life
I feel more alive than I've ever felt
I'm more excited about
I wake up so early in the morning
Not because I'm getting older
It's because I can't wait to get up
You have that outlook on life
Which you literally...
Living up in a down world
You're like, I don't want to go to sleep because I'm going to miss something
And I can't wait to wake up because I don't want to miss anything
FOMO, yeah, hashtag FOMO
Fear of missing out
Yes
But it's because I'm so thankful
So let's fast forward to now
We were talking about this today
So I don't know, for you married folks
Do you all have conversations in the bathroom when you're getting ready in the morning?
Everybody does
I'm in the shower yelling over the shower
You got your blow dryer going
We're yelling at each other like, hey, I think God's saying
Or hey, what do you want to talk about on the podcast today?
Or hey, what about, you know, we're just talking about
You got to get a car like that
All that stuff, you know
Life happens in the bathroom, in the kitchen, right?
Right
And so we're in there
And we're chatting back and forth
And I was just talking to you
And I was just saying
How much, how grateful I am for us
And how 31 years later, two marriages later
A lot of pain, a lot of struggle, a lot of misfires, a lot of bad choices
And yet today to look at our lives
I cannot help but just be grateful
And so I'm yelling at you over the shower
And you've got the hairdryer going
And I'm saying, I love you so much
And I've never ever in my life had the ability to be as intimate, open, and free
And safe as I am with you
Never
And it took years to get to that point for both of us
I know
And the reason I felt like that's important to say
Is because some people think, gosh, I've been married five years
I thought it'd be easier by now
Or they hit that seven year, that seven year boy
Seven year itch or whatever you call it
Yeah, they call it seven year itch
But really there is something about that year seven
Whether it's in a job or where you live
Or the house you're in or the car you own
Or the people in your life
There is something about the number seven and the year seven
Which is transitory
I mean it can be a real
You almost have to press through it
It either makes or breaks you
And a lot of marriages end at seven years
There's just a switch
That's true
And a lot of people quit their jobs after seven years
Or they move after seven
There's just something to that seven year transition period
Oh wait, is that a bad word to use nowadays?
Have we ruined the word transition?
No, no
So anyway, I don't want to get off on the politics thing
But anyway, all that to say is
It was hitting me because I'm thinking
Hey, it's my birthday today
I mentioned that
So I was in the shower thinking about my birthday
Going, Kylie, 62
And you were like, what are the things I want to do
That are my favorite things to do today?
Yeah, and I said
And you said, I want to do a podcast
I want to do my podcast
And I want to hang around with my wife
I want to be with my best friend
And the person that I'm closest to on planet earth
But then you set up lunch with someone else
Hey, you told me to do that
I know
You said go for it
Because I've been trying to get lunch
But then you canceled because you're like
I canceled because I'm out
I can't do it
I really want to spend time with you
I do, and it's just time
And this is important to me
But I want to
So you share a little bit from your perspective
How different it is now
And how it was when it began 31 years ago
As we age and get closer to one another
And that intimacy begins to grow
I had no idea that your love could grow even more
There it is
You nailed it
Man, I thought
This is what I've heard from people
I didn't think this
But I did hear this
And it's like, how can you be with the same person all your life?
Aren't you going to get tired of that person?
Yeah, I've heard it too
No, because when it's true love, it grows
Yeah, it's like carnivore
Aren't you tired of meat?
Aren't you tired of steak?
People say that
And I'm like, no, I can't wait for my next steak
I know, it's a terrible metaphor
It is, but it's true
Because that's the number one thing people say
Are you tired of eating the same thing?
It's like that Huey Lewis and the new song
What?
The Power of Love
Oh, yes, now I do remember that song
But yeah, it's true
But you're right
But the intimacy, the trust, the safety
You know me more than anyone else in this world could ever know me
And you know every flaw in my vocabulary of flaws
You are so funny
You always talk about flaws
It's true though
You don't have very many flaws
Every flaw I have is there
Well, I know everything about you
You know everything about me
And really, and we learn more as we grow
It's interesting, after 31 years and the age we're at
We're still in discovery mode
When I hear people that have been married 50 years, 60 years
It's just like, wow, that is just amazing to me
And how close they can still be
So can I throw a question out?
Yes
So if someone was to say
Well, it's so easy for you guys
Y'all don't have to work at it
What would you say?
As you bump the table
No, sorry, I'm bumping the table
There's still work because everything takes work
What does work look like?
Work is effort
So what does it look like?
Effort to prefer the other one over yourself
To ask the other one
Can I get you a drink while I'm up getting myself one?
There's work
Sometimes you don't feel like being intimate
And you have to lay that down
And allow things to take place to where you can become intimate too
I mean, there's things that work
It takes effort
Marriage, two people, it takes effort
So there is an ROI on this, right?
Return on investment
Yes
We have to sow into each other
Another person in order to reap something
And we don't do it so that we can
That's the byproduct
That's the blessing of a blessed marriage
Is that the work we put into it, there's always a return on it
It's always a return
The ROI is there
And we want to encourage you
Because I know we've had rocky points in our marriage
Where we grew distant
Especially when it came to raising children
That is the hardest thing in the world to do
If there is ever a stressor on the planet
That can come between you and you don't even realize it
Because your thought is
My children in this season of their life
We won't have them forever
They're the most important thing in my life
And I disagree
And we had to learn this the hard way
What was more important is that our children saw us valuing each other
So that when they someday find their mates, their spouse
That they will treat their spouse with the same dignity, respect, and honor
That they saw us do
And they saw that in us
And that was brought up many times how much they saw the love in us
And so that carried on in their own lives
Our son in love, Mark, who lives in Tennessee
He's married to our oldest daughter Alicia
He wrote us this week and said, you're my heroes
And he wrote the most beautiful thing about you when he saw your testimony
And when your son in law doesn't look at you as the weird in-laws that are nosy
And in their business, but actually says you're my heroes
Because of your marriage and because of your life and your walk with Jesus
That's huge
That's not to brag on us
It's just we learned the hard way that we have to put in the work
And we have to put in the work
It's work
And it's worth it
And the first couple of years was really tough
Because I brought in teenagers into our marriage
Yeah, I started with teenagers
I wasn't doing like, you know, scooping poop off a baby and cleaning things up
Getting the white stuff off my collar and my shirt
It was hard
No, it was like...
And the rebelliousness that was there
Well, they were hurt, they were damaged
They were
And it took me years to even understand the ramifications of what took place
Yeah, totally makes sense
But it's all good now, thank God
And God is good
Our kids are thriving right now
Even in the middle of the worst times we had, we never let go of God
If anything, we turned more to God
Yeah
And too many people, things are going so well, they don't need God
Tina and I were talking about that the other day
How many people don't need God
Wow
And so they live their lives for themselves
So they think
Yes
And they're miserable
They may have all the wealth and material things and everything they want
But they're missing that one element
And literally that's what brought my mom to her knees when she found Christ
Was she had the wealth, she had all the material things she could want
Right
But she was empty
Now she had a horrific husband
But in spite of that, she was able to thrive in other areas
Never had to work
Other areas of her life
But boy, was she ever empty and she found Jesus
And so when my dad passed away, she never even remarried
Because Jesus was enough for her
And I loved that
She didn't even have the desire
She could have, she lived another what 21, 22 years
But she said, I don't need that
Jesus is enough
And I would say this in terms of our intimacy
The reason why we have been able to press past the pain, the trauma, divorces
Everything we've been through, rejection, whatever the list goes on, failure, all that
Is because of our walk with God
Because of our walk with Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Leading us, being our helper, being our intercessor, our advocate
And every day pressing into that
Because you and I both, we have a rhythm
We both get up
I get up a little earlier than you
You're getting up earlier and earlier
And then we, you go to your room
I go to my man cave, you go to your she cave
And you get in the Word, and I get in the Word
And then as we're getting ready, things come out
We start talking about it
What did you get? What do you listen to?
What's speaking to you?
It always comes out in our conversation
Whether while we're cooking, while we're driving to the office, whatever
And then we do that life together
And so, people who are newer to the faith
Are trying to figure out, well, so do you do a devotional together?
Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't
Sometimes we don't
It just depends
It depends
Different seasons
And right now we're not doing anything
And I don't think you always have to
I don't either
I think you do what's right for you at that time
And sometimes, you know, we'll go, you know what?
Let's do this one together
And we'll do it
We did two years of the whole Bible together
We did, yeah, it was awesome
And then we decided, let's just do some different things
And what I love about it is we're always sharing together out of our experience
And so, that intimacy with Jesus, that intimacy with God and the Holy Spirit
It literally spills over and paves the way for us to have intimacy with one another
Absolutely
And I think without that, I can't even imagine doing life without that
I know, I can't either
Because what it does, it gives us a singular focus
We're on the same page, we're going the same direction
But I know also there's people listening whose spouse is not on the same page
So what would we say to them in terms of what they're struggling with and their walk with God?
How does that flesh out?
Keep your faith, keep your faith
Keep praying for your spouse
I mean, we prayed for my dad for so many years
We didn't see it as soon as we wanted to
But boy, it came to fruition right before his death
Right at the end, my goodness
And we didn't know he was going to die two weeks later
He didn't know he was going to die two weeks later
But don't give up, but allow Jesus to be that lover in your life
And too, if you're in a relationship where you're not getting support spiritually from your spouse
And you want that, you desire that, you want to be on the same page
Don't give up
Never give up
Stay the course
Those three words, stay the course, I would say is one of the clearest words from God I've ever heard in my life
And I use it daily
Stay the course
And pray for them
Can you imagine the impact if believers, believing believers prayed for the people that they're frustrated with or they're disconnected from
If they prayed for their spouse as much as they put energy into other things
Can you imagine the difference?
Can you imagine the difference if we prayed for our president that he would be saved and transformed by Jesus
As much as we criticize and judge and write post memes about him
Can you imagine the difference that could make?
But I say that about our spouse
In my first marriage, I believed, I thought we would be okay
I thought we could make it and we'd been married 10 years
She walked away
She walked away, I was all in, I was not going to walk away
Even though it was hard, I was like, no, no, I'm not quitting, I didn't quit
And I want to encourage you if you're in a hard situation
Unless there's abuse
Unless there's abuse, and there I would get counsel from a trusted pastor or trusted counselor
Not necessarily your friends because they're all going to just pat you on the back
But people who can speak truth into your life, I would definitely do that
But if there's not that in it, I would encourage you to pray, pray, stand, believe
Treat them with the honor and respect that you would like for them to treat you with
Don't bash them over the head with the Bible
Don't try to drag them to church
Don't try to, don't go where you're not invited
That's just one of my life mottoes
Don't go where you're not invited
I noticed you're looking at your watch, you think you're going to land the plane on this?
First of all, we've got some thank yous to say
And I, man, can I share scripture right before we do it?
Because this scripture, really, I wanted to share at the beginning, but there wasn't a place
Proverbs 23 says this, 23, 7 says,
For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he
We've been talking about intimacy, we've been talking about the mind wars
What's going on as a man thinks in his heart, which is the mind
As a man thinks in his mind and his heart, so is he
And so we want to encourage you to be transformed by the renewing of your mind
That's at Romans 12 to by spending time in God's Word
It will change your life
And any way we can help you and encourage you to do that
Feel free to write us an email, go to our website, livingupinadownworld.com
There's a place where you can write us right there on the front page
You can subscribe to our email list and we'll let you know a day in advance
Or the same day sometimes that we're releasing a podcast
And you can sign up for that, but you can also write us
We love hearing from you
It's life-giving, it's never a nuisance, don't ever feel like what you're sharing is too little or too much
Just feel free to reach out, we want to hear from you because we're here to help
And so we've got some beautiful thank yous to give out
And I want to just, and just one other thing I want to just promote
I want to say bridgefbg.com
And you can watch or listen to all the messages that I've done over the years
Bridgefbg.com right there on the front page
Somebody else, another couple that we always want to talk about are our friends
Our best friends Adam and Tina Curry
Who had they not have encouraged us, we would not have a Living Up and a Down World podcast
And so just such love from those guys and love doing life with them
And they have a couple podcasts that I want to recommend
One is No Agenda, and again that's with Adam and his friend John Dvorak
Where they do media deconstruction, you can find that on any platform
And man, my favorite all-time podcast, this is really how I got to know Adam and Tina
Is Curry and the Keeper
And check them out, Curry and the Keeper, they've got curryandthekeeper.com
Or you can find them on any of your podcast platforms
We recommend a value for value platform, Podcasting 2.0
Things like Cast-O-Matic or Fountain
Where you can actually boost and encourage value for value
If this podcast is bringing value to you
Then you can bring value back to us or to them or whoever you're listening to
Through sharing, through giving
And so that's our website, livingupandadownworld.com
Also I do daily devotionals on there
If you want a daily word, and they're hot off the press
That's the first thing I do, I get up in the morning, get in the word
And I write a devotional every day, I've done it for over 20 years now
And so just click on the blog tab in livingupandadownworld.com
And you'll see the daily divos every day, they're very short to the point
There's always a graphic that I like to do with Scripture
Just to encourage you
And so if you want to get started on the Living Up and a Downworld Podcast episode
All 51, after I upload this one
All 51 episodes are right there, and you can do that
And then be sure and sign up for our Living Up newsletter
And pass this to other people
If you know, have friends and family who would benefit from these conversations
And us going there on some stuff, yeah, get it out there
Definitely
Oh, you just...
No, I just said definitely
You're supporting me, I love it
Yes, yes
I love it too, isn't it cool?
I feel like there's a heavenly cloud over us
We have this amazing drop light over us
You should take a picture of it, put it in the newsletter
I will, we'll do that in just a sec, this is very cool
So anyway, I just got it put together, so I'm happy about it
George Kirchner, another one of our favorites
He's a member of our church
He came up to me Sunday and just said
Precious
Talked about my video and how much he enjoyed it
Listen to what he said, he wrote this in on our Living Up Podcast
Or Living Up Down World Podcast website, there it is
He says, this is for Annette
Just finished watching the video of your testimony
And I wanted to let you know how touched I was
By the way, the Lord has worked in your life
Because you were willing to invite him in
I pray that this video gets spread around
So that others can hear of God's goodness and love for us
Thank you for being open and sharing a very hurtful time in your life
Please rest assured that you will be blessed for your faithfulness
In his name, George
I love that
He's a sweet man
He is such an encourager
They are precious
We've got a boostagram from Sir T.J. The Raffle
He's a big time Noah Jindiguy
And an amazing musician as well with a striper boost
That's 7,777 satoshis
People have said, what are satoshis?
It's a denomination of Bitcoin
And on any of the Value for Value podcast 2.0 platforms
You can actually send satoshis to say, hey, we value what you're doing
And so, anyway, thank you, Sir T.J.
He wrote this
Hey, y'all, I've listened to every episode
Love you both and your podcast
I emailed you almost a year ago
And Jimmy encouraged me to endure
Which I'm determined to do more than ever
As challenges seem to somehow get bigger
I can't remember if I've boosted before
So just wanted to send some value
T-Y-F-Y-E-A-C
Thank you for your encouragement and your courage
Again, I love it
We appreciate the striper boost
And then, Annette, I don't know if you know this or not
We've got a boostagram today from somebody called The Keeper
Oh, wow!
Isn't that cool?
50,000 sats
We love Tina Curry
She's one of our dearest friends
Our besties
Besties, that's right
She wrote Happy Birthday, Pastor Jimmy
Adam and I love experiencing life with you
And...I lost my place
Life with you and Annette, my bad
I was looking at something else
And by the way, someone here is super happy
That you're back to Recording Weekly
Who could that be?
Who would be happy about us recording again?
Oh, Adam Curry
And she says, KYBO
KYBO
Keep your bucket overflowing
KYBO
That leaky bucket
Keep your bucket overflowing
That's so funny
It's so cheesy, but I love it
Wow!
Keep your bucket overflowing
Now we're turning into a variety show
No, I know, here we go
From David Wicker, I love David Wicker
He wrote in, he also goes by Sir By His Grace
He's a big No Agenda, a Kareen Keaper fan as well
And a listener, and just a great guy
Great brother in Christ
He said, thank you for the plug
Now what he's referring to, last week we plugged
His wife's new effort, nonprofit
Called Pushback for Liberty.com
And that's Pushback for, with the number 4
Liberty.com
And what she's doing, she's just trying to equip parents
About what's going on in our culture
How they can take a stand, resources, links
It's a new website that's up
So we want to encourage you to go check out
Pushbackforliberty.com
And so David Wicker, you are welcome for the plug
And you got another plug
Because we care about liberty too, and freedom
And he said, brought my beloved Jules to tears
Jules, bless you, bless you, bless you in your efforts
To make a difference
She was so excited and it meant the world to her
You are such a treasure in the hill country
And beyond ripple effect
She's got my favorite name
Oh, Jules, you've always liked that
Always, I've wanted to change my name to Jules
I know, you've always said that
For years
Which is bizarro, but it is a beautiful name
But you have a lovely name, Annette
I like the name Jules
It's easy to remember, because pretend you're falling into
Maybe I like the name Jules because I like jewelry
Indeed you do
Jewelry can be expensive, it can be adorning
There you go
I don't know, there's
It's in Kutraman, it's beautiful
Yes, I just love it
It's beautiful like you, for sure
Oh, you're so sweet guys
Okay, we must go now
Now the last thing he says is K-Y-B-O on purpose
On purpose, on my house, we'll do it again
I'm going to do it again, I love it
K-Y-B-O
It's a happy tune, makes me want to dance
But I won't
What did you say?
Makes me want to dance, but I won't
No, please don't
I'd probably knock my coffee over again on my keyboard
My knee is hurting from dancing at the tendon bump
I mean, literally, I had to quit walking and working out on my knee
For weeks because of dancing
So no more dancing for me
I don't think you entered it dancing
You entered it at the gym
I probably re-entered it
Because I saw you were doing bad form on squats
I wasn't doing bad form
Yes, you were
I'm just a little old to be doing what I'm doing
Hey guys, we love you, we are out of here
It's been fun being with you today
We love you, livingupinadownworld.com
Check it out, bridgefbg.com
Check it out, we love you
We're so happy to be back to a weekly show
We are out of here, have an amazing day on purpose
And KYBO everybody