EP 66. Linda's Heart Attack; to Heaven and Back; Why She Choose to Come Back; Dare to Dream for Your Marriage

Welcome to the Married and Love it podcast.

We are Greg and Linda Smith, your host from Raleigh, North Carolina.

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And it's going to be a great episode.

I'm excited.

Linda's excited.

We're going to go a little different type of angle today.

We're still going to be talking about marriage, but we're going to go into a little bit about some of our background in a major event that happened to Linda a few years ago.

And I'm going to get into that in just a mom.

But as I was sitting here getting ready to getting all the equipment ready in our studio room that we have, I looked up on the wall and I saw a picture of me and Linda and our two kids that was probably taken around 1990.

And we're at a construction site and we're looking over some plans about how to build a house.

And there's a house being built there and the kids, Tiffany and Jason, are real young then and we're looking at a blueprint.

And the title of this article is in the Kenneth Copeland magazine Believer's Voice of Victory.

And we made it on the COVID and it said dare to Dream.

And what was really neat about that is me and Lynn at that time was a right around the time when we were really getting going with our married and love it ministry, which back then was called Families of Destiny.

And we were standing in front of a house and the house is being built.

Looking at these plans and, and we were full of dreams back then.

We were having a good, good life going on.

We've had had a few challenges at that time, but we were doing good.

Our marriage was healed from a few years ago before that and we were daring to dream and that picture stayed with us all the time.

And you know, we were looking at that and we were dreaming together, but we had no idea other than standing on God's word and, and being blessed in all we do on all that we would do what was ahead of us.

You know, we had a lot of good times.

Our ministry was growing.

God told us to pack up and move from Fort Worth, Texas to Raleigh, North Carolina.

We basically moved out with not anything.

Not knowing what we were going to do.

We got settled and we started doing those different things.

That was back in 1995.

95 When we moved.

And here we are 26, almost 30 years later, 31 years later.

And we've been through a lot and we're going to talk about that somewhat what's going on and, and what a major event Linda had had a while back and how that ties into us.

But we've had lots of good stuff.

We've had a lot of major events in our life.

And I remember one of our first events that we had is when we, me and Linda met.

It was a rated G under 21 disco.

And we have talked about that in some other previous podcasts.

But I was just there.

I was a surfer my first or second year in college and she was still in high school and it was under 21, no drinking type disco.

And I hated the dance, but I knew I wanted to look for Christian girls and I knew they didn't.

They didn't have alcohol there.

So I felt like it was probably a safe place to go.

Right.

She sent her friend over to ask me to dance and we've been dancing ever since then.

Then the next big event in our life is when I proposed to her and I kind of got put in a.

A bind or she manipulated me or whatever.

I did not.

I was a real romantic location.

You were slow.

We were sitting.

I had.

I had to move on with my life.

Yeah, we're sitting.

Yeah.

Basketball softball tournament.

I played on the church softball team.

And we were sitting on the, the concrete bench, picnic bench, and there's a bunch of little kids playing all around.

And she started telling me and we've been dating for about a year and a half probably.

And she started saying, she saying she was thinking about moving with her parents, I think to Tennessee.

Yeah.

Well, I didn't want that.

So it just made my proposed right there with all the kids running around.

And she said, I didn't get on his knee.

He was on a picnic table, have my baseball ring.

He had his uniform on.

And I was like, what?

But she said, yes.

No, I didn't.

I said, I'll think about it.

Yeah, you thought about it, right?

You said about time.

But that, that was a major event in our life.

It was.

Started our journey officially that proposal.

Then on November 12, 1977, we said I do.

We said our vows, we got married, and that was the dream taken off.

And then through the years, uh, we had two children.

We actually, Linda had actually.

We actually lost a miscarriage.

And then when Jason was born, his twin didn't make it and had a few other things going on.

That's also when our marriage almost, we almost separated.

But as far as major events, uh, we went along a little further and then we started married and love it.

We were involved in ministry, but God called us to start ministry to marriages.

And then we went along and we did real good for a while.

I was involved in a car accident that almost killed me and Linda Burn.

That was here in North Carolina.

Yeah, that was in North Carolina.

And that was 99.

That's 1999.

One day after my birthday.

And then Linda also, when we first.

Got married, Linda burned her arm after we were married.

Burner arm.

But I'm trying to, I want to get back to the major dates.

But anyway, life was going on.

We're doing ministry.

We started doing a business and ministry.

And then she started having some back issues.

And this 2013 years.

Moving forward.

Yeah, moving forward.

Okay.

Yeah.

She had a couple, she had a.

Couple of other 2010, she had a.

Couple other minor type surgeries that weren't life threatening, just people getting a gallbladder move or something.

Then she had the surgeries and then she had surgery on her hands, a back stimulator put in.

But then the next major date.

Now having our two children's were major dates too.

But as far as impacting on our, our marriage, it was on.

When was that?

It was on 9, 29, 21.

And that's when Linda had her heart attack.

Well, that was the.

Well, for right now, that's when you had your heart.

We're not going to get into the widowmaker.

That was the widowmaker.

That's when she had the heart attack.

And the whole world was getting ready to change that day.

But what I want to bring into that, as we hit that point, I'm just kind of showing you major dates in our life.

We've had challenges.

We, we lost a business during the time of her surgery.

So we were having financial situations.

And it's not going to be really about that Notice I can tie it in daring to dream because you don't know what's going to happen in your lives.

And we had no idea all this stuff was going to happen.

Not, we didn't plan this.

We didn't say, well, Linda's going To have to have back surgery.

We might lose.

We're going to lose one of Jason's twin, or we're going to have a car accident, or this is going to happen.

We were believing God, and we still do.

But what I want to try to say is, in your marriage, you're going to have a dream.

You're going to have things that you want to deal with, and life is going to come in and hit you.

And he's going.

It can hit you sideways like a tidal wave that you don't see.

And sometimes it's just that you have a flat tire and it's raining outside, the kids are cranky, and you're late for something.

Those are all the different things that can hit you.

But we have to be prepared.

And it's like when Linda and I almost separated, we went back and changed what we were doing and how we were doing in our marriage.

We learned to understand each other, we learned to love languages, we learned how to communicate and so forth.

That's not what this is about, but we built a foundation.

And I want to read a scripture right here before we move on and.

And say something else.

Matthew 7:24 through 27 says this.

Therefore every marriage who hears these, it says, every man I put in here, marriage.

This is our married and love it version.

Therefore, every marriage who hears these words of mine, that's God's word and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise marriage which built its house upon the rock.

And the marriage busters, life came and burst against that house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.

See, Linda and I have gone through these past years, especially since we rebuilt our marriage back in 85 or 86, somewhere back there on God's word and hearing and doing the word, that's what's got us through the different health challenges, personal challenges, building a ministry, overcoming obstacles.

That's what.

That's been our base.

And what happens if you're not doing that when these.

These events hit?

It can wipe you out.

And then it says, and every marriage who hears these words of mine and doesn't act upon them will be like a foolish marriage which built its house upon the sand.

And the marriage busters burst against that house, and great was its fall.

So if you don't have a foundation that you're building your marriage on, your life on, when life hits, crap's gonna happen.

You can be wiped out, knocked out.

And that's not what God's plan is for you.

And you're Going to see in here a few minutes when we hear about Linda's stuff, how all this is applying.

But build that house.

And the thing that got us through this was preparing for things before life hit in the negative form.

I would not have been able to take care of Linda for the last 16 years or 13 years if I hadn't gotten my health up.

If we haven't.

Didn't know how to stand on the word, if we weren't prepared for those things.

And what we're going to.

What we're also talking about here is your vows.

Do you remember when you did your vows?

Yeah.

What did I know?

Linda does.

Oh, good.

But we set our vows, and I was just thinking, we said, for better, for worse, richer or poor, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.

Come in and test your vows.

Now, some of y' all didn't say your vows because you were chicken, too, or you didn't want to make a commitment.

But that's where the rubber meets the road.

When you have major health issues going on in a life, major financial problems, somebody loses a child.

But it could even be a miscarriage or something.

Those are times when the enemy comes in and destroys marriages, because we don't.

We're not on the rock.

And there's a lot of issues.

The next date we already shared about Linda having a heart attack.

And she's getting ready to explain that to you.

So this is a time to see where you stand.

Where's your dream at?

Are you ready for what life's going to throw at you?

Because this was a major bomb that came in and hit us.

And you know, for me, my vow, sickness and health, health to death through us part.

Okay.

I said, I can handle the sickness part.

I'll take care of her.

And believe me, when I've been taking care of her for the last few years, I have done everything she may need to have done at different times.

But what I wasn't ready for was the death part.

So, Linda, as we get into this.

Yeah.

I just want you to take that time to share what goes on.

And you know what?

Let us know, too, why you said you were willing to come back.

Well, I had a choice to make.

Yeah.

And what.

Let me just back up a little bit.

Well, I had a minor heart attack.

And.

And that was on a Friday.

Yeah.

This.

The heart attack was on Tuesday.

Right.

That was the widowmaker.

Right.

Okay.

But before that, Tuesday, on a Friday, I had a minor high.

Oh, I remember that.

And.

But the thing about it is, on Thursday, that very same week, the day before Friday, I had just been to my cardiologist for my annual visit, and he was like, you are good to go.

And he gave me a clean bill of health.

And he said, I'm not going to have to see you for another year.

So when the minor heart attack hit me, we were saying, it can be a heart attack.

I had symptoms of it, but it was like, couldn't be a heart attack.

Yeah, I remember we were in your bathroom in the vanity area.

And yeah, I would say, is your arm doing this?

No.

But is this doing this?

Yes.

Yeah, it was all.

All symptoms.

And you know, women have different symptoms than men.

Yes.

When it comes to.

And mine was bilateral.

It was like on both sides of my body.

But that seemed to ease up through the weekend.

So along comes Tuesday.

Well, on.

You finally got better on that.

The weekend.

It kind of on Friday after slowly went away.

But I think what really got us was saying just yesterday, he said you were good for another year.

And that just stuck in us.

We should have picked her up and hauled her to the hospital.

But it's scary when we think about what we didn't do.

But God's grace was there.

God's grace is sufficient.

So the weekend at things kind of calmed down.

And here comes Monday, here comes Tuesday, and Greg had Jason at the airport.

No, that was.

That was on the two.

That was the Friday.

Okay.

So getting the dates right.

But I. I remember those days.

So here comes Tuesday, and it all starts up again.

And this time it was the major widowmaker heart attack.

I mean, it was so bad and all the symptoms were so bad.

And you even had more symptoms.

It was more.

Yeah, it was.

It was just something.

And so they.

Greg took me to the hospital.

They finally decided, this may be a problem.

Maybe there's something going on here.

So he took me to the hospital.

And, you know, it wasn't indigestion.

No, no.

Because before that we thought, well, maybe it's indigestion.

Oh.

We tried to make every excuse.

We prayed, cast out the devil.

We did everything.

But nope, it was time to take her to the hospital.

So that Greg got me into the hospital, and as soon as they saw me, they rushed me on down.

CAD Lab.

Catholic.

Well, yeah, they took surgery room, whatever.

They took you first into the.

The one hospital took her in and put her in the emergency room, and they put her, you know, in all the curtains, and they were in there checking her heart and checking everything.

Of course, while they're doing that, they Come out and say, here, sir, can you take care of this?

And you need to pay $95.

My wife's in there.

They're.

They're testing her out.

I don't know if she's going to live or die.

And they say, can you sign right here?

Can we get our $95 me away?

And he was like, where did you go?

And then they say, she is having a heart attack.

Right.

We're taking her downtown to the main hospital.

Because the hospital we were in did not ha.

Was not facilitated enough to take care.

They needed everybody and the doctors and everything.

So they took me in the big, big ambulance.

Yeah, she got.

I was like, wow, this is pretty cool.

And, you know, I never rode in an ambulance like that before.

And so they got me down, whisked me away, I guess.

You followed me in the car, Is that why?

Well, they beat me there somehow.

Yeah, well, they got to.

They got me there, sirens going.

One o' clock in the morning.

Yeah.

Yep, I think it was.

Yeah.

And so they took me down into the.

Into the hospital emergency area and they whisk me down into the surgery area.

And he comes in and he's like, where'd you go?

What happened?

Yeah, I came in and they sent me to the heart area.

And then I had this big old empty.

I had the whole waiting room to myself.

And they said, your wife's in there.

They believe she's in search.

She's in surgery.

They're doing something.

So I sat out there for a couple hours, not hearing anything.

All I know is Linda has had a heart attack.

And I'm praying.

Called people to pray and just praying and believing God because I didn't know what was going to happen.

Well, so here I am, and they're.

They're doing.

They couldn't do that.

Was in.

They ended up having to do not.

They went catheters.

Catheters.

Yeah.

They couldn't do open heart surgery.

I think they want to avoid that anyways.

But so they were doing all.

Hooking me all up, getting me doing all this and everything.

And then I could hear him talking and.

And everything that was going on.

And there's probably about eight or nine people around working on me, maybe more than that.

I don't want to have my procedure.

And my veins.

My veins in them at that point were not cooperating too much to get everything they needed.

I guess they called it jump juice is what I remember hearing.

You know, get some jump juice in her, you know, because they couldn't put a paddle to spark my heart.

Why would they need to put a pat on you?

Because that would have started me back to life.

Well, what happened?

You started.

That would have killed me.

Well, you left out that you were dying.

I was on the table and they had lost me.

They had lost, so they had to jump start me back again.

And so I was hearing all this and I was out of my body, but I still hearing that I went on up and my experience was with the Lord.

Now, again, I don't know any of this is going on.

And you know, I don't know that you've even heard this whole story, have you?

I've heard bits and pieces, Bits and pieces.

So I get to this place with the Lord.

I can't say it's heaven because it was just me and my daddy.

God, I was, I was just right there and it was like first I was in my body and then all of a sudden I wasn't and everything was like gorgeous white.

I was no pain.

And now, granted, since 2013, probably 2012,.

With the pain, probably.

So I've been in chronic pain.

Yeah, constant, constant chronic pain.

That's what chronic pain is.

And so I'd been in that.

And so here I was with the Lord and it was like I was just sitting in the palm of his hand.

No pain.

I was in my glorified body.

I'd say probably 25 years old, maybe 30, maybe.

Beautiful, long, gorgeous hair.

Just a glorified body.

And I had a white robe on that you often see in pictures and all.

But that's what I saw.

And.

But I was standing.

Now, this is three times I died.

Okay, I'm going to tell you about each visit.

Three times I died.

And so this is the first time I got over there and I was like, wow, where am I?

You know, And I was just feeling the love of God.

Just you think about the love of God here on this earth.

Well, this love was just.

It's unexplainable, I have to say.

And just the warmth and the tenderness and no pain and all of that.

And then I start hearing, we're getting her back.

We're getting her back.

So they sucked me back into the surgery room with the, at the.

In the cath lab is what they call it.

They sucked me back in.

That was probably when I was out there praying real hard for some reason was.

And so they sucked me back and I got back in my body and they're like, we're getting her blood pressures up, you know, because I could hear them saying, we lost her.

You know, we lost her.

And they never.

Never said she died.

They never said that.

They always say, we lost her or we were losing her.

They would always have different terminology.

And so they get me and they start working on me in my heart, and they're putting stents in balloon stints, trying to go in, and they're having to do it through the groin area and going up into the heart, and they're.

The jump.

The.

The IV that they had in me to jumpstart me was.

They couldn't.

They couldn't get enough.

And I could hear them.

The.

The main doctor was saying, give her this much now.

Give her some more.

Give her the.

Give her more.

Give her more.

Give her more.

I could hear him saying that, and I'm just like, oh, the pain was there.

The pain from my back was there.

The pain from my.

Everything was there.

And I'm like, oh, my gosh, this body.

And then I hear whoever was doing the jumpstart was saying, up.

We're losing to her again.

She's leaving us.

We're.

We're losing her.

We're losing her.

And back up into the hand of God.

I went once again.

Now, could you look down and see anything?

Or did you.

I didn't really look down.

I was just one moment in my body, and the next moment, right in the presence of God.

No pain once again.

No.

Full of love once again.

And this time, I'm sitting on the floor.

I guess you could call it a floor.

I don't know.

I was sitting with my cross, my legs crossed, and I was, like, thinking.

And I kind of.

I can see you like an inquisitive little girl sitting there, because you ask a lot of questions.

I do.

And so I was just sitting there.

I'm like, what's going on here?

You know?

And.

And I could.

It's like I could with the Lord, with.

With God.

It's like we could talk, but we never spoke.

It was like you just understood each other, just thought.

And I did not see the face of God.

I saw.

I saw his presence, the back of God.

And I said, I want to see your face.

Because I understood that I was with the Lord.

And I said, I want to see your face.

And I heard in such a sweet, soft way, he said, no.

And I'm like, why not?

I want to see your face.

Like you.

You know, I'm like, didn't Moses asked to see your face?

Didn't he get to see your face?

He didn't.

You know, he.

God wouldn't let him see his face.

But I thought, well, why not?

Why not me?

I want to see you right here, you know?

And he's like, no.

I'm like, okay.

So about that time, in a split second, I hear them back in the earthly realm, and they're saying, up.

Her blood pressure is coming back up.

We're getting her back, we're getting her back.

And they start working again.

And the doctors had all hands off, jump juice me and, okay, let's get in here and let's get her fixed.

And I'm back in my body once again.

The pain once again.

I was like, oh, it was so painful, them going up and having to put catheters and stents.

Ended up having five stints, but that was the second surgery.

The next day, however, this first surgery, I had three.

And I hear the doctor say, I, or whoever it is, the anesthesiologist, I guess, saying, we're losing her again.

We're losing her again.

And here's visit number three.

I am over into the hands of God once again.

And I'm like, ah, okay.

So this time I'm standing up and I got my hands on my hips.

I can see that.

And I am saying, God, okay, what's going on here?

What.

What is.

What are you.

What are you needing here?

What am I supposed to be doing?

And he said, I. I need you.

Okay, so I may get this out of order a little bit.

But he said, I, I.

You have a choice, Linda.

You can stay here and cross all the way over.

That would be okay.

Or you can go back and you can be back with your family and as soon as.

Okay, so there was.

That was one reason that I was going to have.

I was.

Had a choice to stay, but if I went back, it was to fulfill my accomplishment with the Lord.

And God has called me and Greg to marry and love it.

Sadly enough, that was the first thing I thought of, was my mission and my call as unto the Lord.

Do you know, I knew I had my children, of course, my husband, my children and my grandkids.

And I was like, okay.

And he said, these are your choices.

You can go back and complete and fulfill the mission that I have for you with your family, with your calling, and you can go back into your body or you can stay here.

And he said, it's okay.

Whatever it is you want to do, you have that choice.

And I actually, I had to think about it because, you know, being with the Lord and being in his presence and.

And it's like, that's an encounter that, you know what?

I was gonna get to step over to the other side and be with the lost loved ones that I have had in the past or was.

So I had to think about it, but then it didn't take me long.

And I said, you know, whatever you want, Daddy.

God, I want what you want.

Your will be done.

And it was in a split second, I was back in my body.

My spirit man was back in my body, and they were stuffing my.

They were stuffing my spirit.

The Holy Spirit was stuffing my spirit man back into the earthly shell that we all walk on.

We all walk in and.

And they were saying, wow, we got her good.

Her blood pressure is good.

Everything is good.

Let's get her clean.

Let's get her all the way taken care of.

It's also good.

Let's get this fixed up.

She is back.

She is strong, and she is with it.

Well, I know that was because of the decision that I made to.

I wanted to hear and, you know, we talk with the Lord.

I. I did.

When.

When I was in that heavenly realm, I spoke with the Lord or whatever we did.

We communicated anyways.

And I wanted.

I wanted to hear.

I want to hear when my day really comes, when it's my time.

I want to hear, good and faithful servant, well done, my good and faithful servant.

I want to hear that.

And God knew my heart.

And so that was.

Put me back in this body to complete the work that God has for me here on this earth in this earthly realm.

And so they were like, okay, we got her back.

She is strong.

She is all the way here.

And we got it all taken care of back in the body of pain.

What about Pope pushing your toe back in?

Oh, yes.

My spirit man was so big because you know what?

I spent every time abiding in the Lord when I was here on this earth.

My quiet time with the Lord, my prime time with Jesus, my prime time with my daddy.

God.

Hearing from God, hearing the voice of God, spending time abiding in the.

In the vine, you know, I spent.

I've been known the Lord and been walking with him since 75, 1975.

And we've been in the ministry since for 48 years.

Right before we got married, before we.

Got engaged, I was doing ministry stuff with, volunteering with high school students.

When we were dating, Greg actually got me to the Lord and, okay, so that was one of the assignments, was to come back and do that.

But here's the second thing God said.

I want you to tell them that I am Real that I am a good God.

And there is a difference between heaven and hell.

There is a difference.

So that was like the second assignment that I've been given, to go out and shout it from the rooftops that God is good, God is real, and there's a difference between God and the enemy, who is the devil.

So two assignments.

Married and love it.

The fulfill the call of God on my life and to proclaim the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ that God is good and that he loves us and he loves you and he has a future and a hope for us.

So I'm back in my body and walking.

I have to say.

That's what it was.

And it took me.

I was in ICU for seven or eight days.

Well, actually.

Actually, they ended up putting.

What's a total?

Five.

Yeah, they started out with three.

They started out with three.

And they said, we'll have you come back in a month or two and put two more in.

That's what.

That's the first time I heard anything.

I never knew that she had passed the other say or did or didn't.

I mean, they never told me that.

They just came out, said, we got three stents in her, she's going to need two, but we're going to wait a month or two before they do that.

And when they brought her out and then had her in her room for a little bit, she started going downhill again.

And they said, we're gonna.

They said, do you want to go ahead and get this done?

I'm like, yes.

Yeah.

So that night, she basically went in for two surgeries and stuff.

Right.

And then she was in icu, the normal hospital type protocol for somebody that had a heart attack.

And they put stints in.

And this was all going on.

This was 21 that this happened.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so they had restrictions on that.

Yeah.

We could only have two people in a room at a time.

And Greg, my two sisters came and they stayed with me, which was precious to be there for Greg and to just be there to support me and, you know, so here I was, fulfilling the call of God on my life, back in my body, back in the pain mode and realizing I'm going to minister regardless, I'm going to push through the pain.

Is that what they say in the athletic world?

Yeah, push through the pain.

Because the chronic pain.

You would think that having an experience like that with the Lord, that I come back totally healed.

Right.

Not so.

We still live in a broken.

We still live in a fallen world.

We still.

I was still in a broken body.

I was still having to believe God for my healing.

I was still having to keep the word before me and speak healing verses just like anybody would over a broken body.

But.

But the decision to come back was to, you know, to be with my family, to be there for the ministry that God called me to and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

I think I came away from that experience with the seriousness and being obedient to God.

Yeah.

Being serious about my calling, you know?

Yeah.

Being serious about being obedient.

Immediate.

Having immediate obedience and wanting, you know, being serious about wanting God's perfect will for my life.

And he gave you a second chance.

A second chance.

I'd have to say, to.

I mean, continue on because we haven't reached near the goals we want to reach.

But he's given you another chance and me another chance with you.

And believe me, I do not take that for granted at all that you're still here.

I mean, I was not ready for the death till you part.

No, I found out about that.

That was not part of the vows.

Was not gonna.

I don't ever want.

You weren't ready for that.

Go there.

I mean, but mayors, there's a lot of married couples that face that fear on a daily basis, and we want to minister to those people.

You know, I'm ministering.

Put it like this.

I don't even want you to ever go in the hospital for anything like that.

Because you may say next time, no, Lord, I'm staying.

Because, hey, that's so true.

Because I'm telling you, since I've been here, I often wonder, why did I decide to stay?

I mean, why did I decide to come back?

Right.

And not stay?

Because you got.

Still got the pain.

Still have the pain.

Had two surgeries on your leg for circulation and other.

Other.

The back pain still there.

And had a hip replacement about a year and a half later.

Y.

And so she's still been going through it now.

She is redeemed from the curse of law and God is working in her body.

And she's made for what the way they said she could have been from their back surgeries.

You know, when people get these back surgeries, they say you may only get 30% appro.

Improvement for most of it.

I'm not talking about the little ones where they go in and do a little incision, and you're done in 20 minutes.

Your whole back.

Her first original surgery was like eight or nine hours long.

Yeah.

And so.

But that's gone.

But you know she's had to come back.

And daily I've heard her say, I don't know why I came back.

Because when the pain hits and the.

What was wrong with me for thinking I would come back?

But the key there.

And she says, God, what.

What do you want?

What do you want, God?

Every day is asking us.

You know, we may be planning our steps.

We have to come back in our personal lives, in our marriage.

And if you feel like you're God's calling to do something, it's like, not my will, but God's will be done.

And see, that's what God is wanting in our marriages.

He wants us to say, God, how can we have a better marriage?

What do I need to change to be a better husband?

And he'll show us.

And it's just, if you just follow my will on how to be a husband, if you follow my will, how to be a better wife and how you two can pray together and you can dare to dream like we talked about at the beginning, and he'll show you.

He'll give you a dream.

Maybe, you know, that doesn't mean you're called to do the ministry.

It may be the just raise a godly family and be a godly businessman and be involved in your church.

And you're impacting people because people see you as a happy family.

They see you out in a restaurant.

Have you ever been in a restaurant?

And you, you know, usually you go out there in a restaurant and you're eating and the kids are kind of rowdy or they're all carrying on or on their phones and everything's going on.

And then you see this one family and they got about four kids and they sit there and they're young kids.

They got manners.

The husband and wife are having conversations with the kids, and they're just pleasant to be there.

That is a witness.

That is a witness.

See, people are watching you in area.

No.

You may be called to do a married and love it ministry.

You may be a missionary, you may be a pastor.

He, he.

There's so many things that God needs, and he's just looking for you to say, God, what is your will for my life?

And you know what?

You may have to go through some pain.

You may have to go some testing.

We got some friends that are going to Bible college, and they're, they're older, they're an older couple.

I mean, we're older than them.

But, you know, they're, they're past college age and they're, they're, they Want.

They're gonna go on mission trips, and they've never been called to be a missionary trip, but that's part of their thing.

That's stepping out of their comfort zone.

So God's going to ask you to call, get out of your comfort zone.

And believe me, when Linda said, what do you want?

And she was zip back in her.

Body, it was instant.

That was out of her comfort zone,.

That she was way more comfortable there.

She was there with.

Think about that.

Yeah.

You've heard other stories.

The presence of God is so powerful, you can't even explain.

Explain it.

But she got out of her comfort zone, so to speak, to come back and to.

To get in and to serve God and to.

To work.

Me and Linda work together as a team and married and love it.

I don't know what I would have done without her.

I don't even want to think about that.

But I know he's put us together as a team ever since we first got married to work together on the team.

Does that mean we get along all the time?

No.

She'll tell me what to do.

And I go, yes, ma'.

Am.

No, that.

That's not how that works.

But you know what I mean.

We have to work through those.

Sometimes it's not comfortable, but we have to do it.

And.

And then you got to look at your vows.

You've got to be prepared for the better, for best, for the worst, for the sickness and health or finances or tight.

Those are the uncomfortable times.

But as you as a husband and wife, you come together and you pray and you stand on God's word, you can get through anything.

You can, you can dare together.

Maybe you don't ever have everything you want.

But you know what?

When it comes down to it doesn't matter how much money you got, what type of car you drive.

True.

Or where you go on vacation.

If you two are together and you're loving one another and you're spending time with one another.

Yeah, maybe all those things are nice.

But it comes down to a powerful love between the two of you guys.

That's right.

And so Linda's story, we don't, you know, somebody said, well, what's this got to do with marriage?

Nothing.

But everything.

It does because it's part of our journey and it's part.

We weren't planning on that happen.

You know what?

I've had to be the caretaker after that.

And then after her heart surgery, I mean, after her hip surgery, and then she had two different surgeries on her legs with.

For Veins for clogs there.

And while she's doing all that, I had to have this past year, two different procedures to put stents and some arteries I wasn't prepared to have to have done.

Right.

Matter of fact, we were.

We were so close together on one of our procedures, they actually had scheduled us to have our procedures on the same day.

And I had to say, wait a minute, my wife's going to be in there and I'm going to be in there.

It's not going to work because somebody's got to take care of the other person.

Hey.

Well, so I called.

No.

So we were telling them we should do a couple couples.

Like a couple's massage.

Yeah.

We do a couple surgeries.

I'll reach across the operating room and hold her hand, and we just be like a couple's massage.

But.

But we've been there for each other, you know?

Can your spouse count on you in the tough times?

Right.

Are you gonna.

Even when things aren't right, when the pain meds wear off, or you've got to do extra work around the house because you're.

Your husband or wife has just got a cold and you go, oh, my God, I can't believe I gotta go in there and clean the dishes tonight.

That's her job.

That's his job.

You know what?

Suck it up, Suck it up.

Do God's will, serve each other, love each other.

Dare to dream.

Because you know what?

Life is, is short.

Yeah, you can.

You never gotta live one day at a time.

I value every day I have with Linda, and I do not.

And I think Linda may have come to this, but we don't want to live with regrets.

That's right.

When you go before the Lord, when your time comes up, is he going to say, well done, well done, my good and faithful son.

Or you're laying and your time comes when you're 80, 90, 100 years old, are you going to have regrets?

If you have a dream to pursue, pursue.

That doesn't matter how old you are.

If you want to go back to school, if you want to start a ministry, if you want to start your own business, if you want to go volunteer at the hospital to help people that are hurting, whatever it is, we.

All have a purpose in life.

We do.

Dare to dream.

If you've got old dream that's died, maybe it's to learn how to play the piano.

Maybe you've always wanted to teach a Sunday school class or do something, do it.

Do it with your spouse.

You don't know what tomorrow holds.

But we could.

We can stand on God's word for protection, and he's going to take care of us.

But, you know, dare to dream.

So when you do go before the Lord, and It's when you're 95 years old, you're like Moses or somebody, you can go, you know what?

I've run my race.

I've done my course.

I'm ready to go.

Yeah.

And God, God may say, you know, you want to go back.

We don't know how all that works with everybody else, but you just need to be ready.

And what was that one thing Linda said?

Whatever your will is, Lord.

And God said, you know what?

I want you back down there to do what you're called.

So I'll tell you what, if she doesn't do what she's called to do,.

I'm gonna be in trouble.

Yeah, like cook me dinner tonight.

She's gonna have to.

Cereal.

Cereal.

So.

So bottom line is, what is God's will for you?

Right.

He's going to show you dare to dream.

Trust in him.

Wherever you're at, make sure you're building your foundation on the word of God.

I'll tell you what, if you're not a born again Christian, you're listening to.

This, you need to get realize that God is.

He's got nothing but good for you.

And he is a good God.

He's a good God.

And that's what Linda won when she came back.

Second thing, the God is a good God.

Anything else you want to cover?

No, I. I'm, you know, last word on your journey.

No.

No.

Okay.

All right.

Thank God.

And thank God.

So that's a little bit of our life the last few years.

Some major events since we got.

We were coming up on year 49 in a couple of months.

I'm actually going to be turning 70 here in.

I think it's 48.

49 Years.

Really?

In November.

No kidding.

49.

Wow.

Time flies when you're having fun.

That's right.

And I'm getting ready to turn seven.

I don't feel like it, even though I got a couple of stints going on.

But you know what it's like.

We're young Joshua and Caleb.

Hey, I'm as strong as I was now as I am strong as I.

As I was 45 years ago.

Yeah, Now.

So stay in shape.

And I want to say one thing.

Anytime something's going on in your body and you're not sure, you got to be your own doctor.

I'm going to close with this, I.

Had symptoms going on, and it took like seven or eight months to finally figure out what was going on in me.

I had to stay on top of it.

The finally found out what was going on and we got it fixed.

Because honestly, I could have been gone.

Yeah, I could have been gone.

But the Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for prodding.

Continuing to prod you.

Yes.

For you to continue to prod the doctors.

Yes.

And to find an answer.

You knew it was outside of.

It wasn't just a sore muscle.

It wasn't just.

It was something that needed attention.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I think with that, if you're not done, let's pray.

Let's pray.

Lord, I just pray for our audience.

I pray for the married couples.

I pray for the husbands.

I pray for the wives.

I thank you, Father God, that you are a good God.

You came to give us life and life more abundantly.

The devil wants to kill, steal and destroy according to John 10:10.

But no, no, no, no.

Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly.

And Father God, I thank you for that life.

I thank you that I got to meet you in a special way.

I got to talk to you in a special way.

I got to be with you in a special way.

But Lord, I thank you for your anointing and your power and your grace that was on me.

Then I thank you for the calling that you've put on Greg and ours lives, and you've got that for all other married couples out there together.

And if you as a husband are believing for your wife, or if you are a wife believing for your husband, let me just tell you, God will hear, hear.

He'll hear your prayers and he will answer you.

And I just thank you, Daddy gone.

For the good work that you're doing.

And we give you the glory and the honor and the praise.

Do you have anything to pray?

Dear Lord, we just thank you.

Thank you for your word.

We thank you that your word works.

We thank you, Lord God, for.

For all you're doing for Linda and I and what you're doing for all the.

The.

The people that are couples that are listening to us and will be listening to this.

We thank you that they have a future and a hope.

Yes, they dare to dream that their dreams could come true.

We thank you for healing in their bodies.

Right.

We thank you for healing in their hearts, their souls, their marriages, and in their families if need be.

We thank you for all their needs being met.

And we give you glory for it, Lord, in Jesus name.

Well, we do have some honeydews.

Yeah, that's right.

One.

We got one honeydew for you.

Other than just think about your future and for you to dare to dream and just give your hub.

Go with your husband and wife and you guys sit down and sit pray.

Just sit down and pray together about what's going on in your life.

Make sure you're committing to the Lord, everything that's going on.

But in light of all that, the one we do every week is the 10 second kiss.

So find your honey in the morning, the evening, or all day long, whatever you want to do, and just grab them, pull them up to you and lock your lips together and do a 10 second kiss.

Say hey Siri, set my timer for 10 seconds and plan a good one on them.

You know what?

Try not to leave the house without a kiss, maybe a hug and maybe a short prayer together.

Just takes a few minutes to do those.

It can change your day.

Yes.

Now we'd like to also if you have comments or any questions or topics that you would like us to cover in our podcast, if you have questions about my experience with the Lord, please email me.

Email us, send us a voicemail, send us a text.

The phone number and email address is going to be in our show notes.

And if you have a specific prayer request, we pray for our Married and Love it family every single day.

Yes, and we would love to hear from you.

And if you're not on our email list and newsletter, I mean our newsletter list where you get an email from us, sign up for that on the bottom in our show notes you'll have a link where you can sign up for our email list.

No thanks for joining us.

I'm so glad you did.

I hope that today inspired you and we're going to see you next week.

And until then, remember this, you can be married and love it on purpose.

Thank you for investing into your marriage by listening to to the Married and Love it podcast.

Be sure to be a part of the ripple effect of making marriage great by sharing this podcast with other couples to equip them to be married and love it.

Also, subscribe to and follow us on your favorite platform and be sure to check out our website at www.marriedandlovet.com where you can learn more about Married and Love it and contact us with any questions or comments that you may have.

And remember with God that you have a future and a hope and you can be married and love it on purpose.