PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 125: SEXUAL INTIMACY AND BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 125: SEXUAL INTIMACY AND BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES

Sherri Leiter, mother and grandmother, joins me again to share her testimony of how she revived intimacy in her marriage. It's easy to get into a boring rut. How can you get out of it? Listen in for practical ways.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies. Well, today, I have back with me Sherri Leiter. You will remember that I did podcasts 122 and 123 with Sherri. Last week we talked about voting. Today, Sherri is back with me because there's something else that we wanted to talk about.

When we were at the Above Rubies retreat down in Florida, at Panama Beach, Florida, I mentioned at one of my sessions, “Now ladies, if there's anything that you'd like to share, or comment on anything I've been saying, you're welcome.”

So the next session, Sherri popped up. She shared a testimony that I felt was very important. I'm sure it will relate to many of you, especially those who maybe are just keeping on a little bit...well, maybe reaching menopause. Anyway, Sherri, thanks for coming again today. I wonder if you would just share your testimony that you shared with the ladies down there. OK?

Sherri: Well, thank you again for having me, Nancy. Sure, I would love to share my testimony. One of the comments that she made that made me think of this testimony was you encouraged us ladies to continue to pursue our husbands.

That was something that I'd actually read in one of your articles earlier, a couple of years ago. It really got me thinking, because I'm coming up on being married for 39 years. Sometimes, as we go on in our marriages, we can get into a rut. We can just kinda let things go.

We get busy with the children. We get busy with all kinds of different things. Our husbands can be busy with work , and all the things that can consume their time. We can get almost lazy with our relationship. I know I was to that point. It was a struggle. I couldn't, I don't know, even relate to my husband sometimes.

NC: You know the word you mentioned is the word “rut.” it is so easy to get into a rut, but usually when you're in a rut, you don't know you're in the rut! You're just kinda doing life, and life is taking over, really. Suddenly you don't realize, “Hey, my being with my husband, for what?”

Sherri: That's exactly right. And that's basically what happened. It also happened, there were some little hurts that were building up also, that I had let come in, that I didn't really realize. But one of the things down to my marriage that I feel is really important for couples to learn, is that the other couple, the other person's love language.

If you've not heard of of that, there's a book out there called The Five Love Languages. It's basically how people feel loved. When they're spoken to that way, if that's one of their love languages.

Well, mine happened to be physical touch. I love to be hugged. I love to have my hand held. And those were things through the years, I would tell my husband, “I'd love for your to hold my hand. I'd love for you to put your arm around me.” It just wasn't something that came naturally for him, because of the home environment he was raised in. They were not real affectionate that way.

But also it's not his love language, so that's not an easy way for him to speak. I'd kinda gotten to the point as I got older, basically as in menopause, I got to the point, “OK,well, who cares?” Right, forget it! (Nancy laughing)

It got to the point where if he wasn't reaching out to hold my hand, so what? I didn't reach out and hold his hand. It had gotten to that point where I didn't care. So it was about that time I read your article.

I also started realizing that, as my role as a wife, it didn't matter if I felt like it or not. I still needed to pursue my husband, regardless of whether he reached out to hold my hand. I reached out to hold his hand, whether I felt like it or not. I'll be very honest. Most times, I didn't feel like it.

But I've also learned through all of this, that feelings are fickle. We can't trust our feelings. We have to go on what the Word of God tells us. We have to go on truth. And the truth is, I'm committed to my husband. I'm in a covenant relationship with him, so I have to keep pursuing him.

I also learned through this whole process, and it was probably about a five-year-process, that I learned all these things. I was also expecting my husband to meet needs that only God can meet. So I really had to press in and realize how much my Father loves me.

Even if there's days when I feel like my husband doesn't love me, which he does love me, but there's those days when I feel like he doesn't love me... I know beyond the shadow of a doubt my Father does. It brought me into this relationship with God, that it doesn't matter what is going on around me. My God loves me, and that's all that matters. He meets every need.

Once I realized that, I was able to look past all the different things with my husband, and continue to pursue him. Like I said, reach out and hold his hand, and start doing things that I did back when we first got married. Put little notes in his lunch pail, like, “I miss you, and I can't wait for you to come home!” Just little fun things that  you usually do when you first got married. As you get into that rut, you stop doing those things.

It's really been interesting. It's added a new spark to our marriage. He's like, “Hey, I like having the old you back!” It's been great. It's been wonderful, and very healing.

NC: And so when you began to do that, how did you husband respond? Had he got into a rut too? Or what happened?

Sherri: Most definitely, both of us had gotten into a rut! So he realized, during that time when I stopped reaching out to hold his hand, he even made a comment one time. He was like, “You never reach out and hold my hand anymore.”

It was a time for some real honesty. For me to just go, “I gave up. I don't care anymore.” And that was a hard thing to say, and a hard place to realize that I was there. I hated it. I did not like being there. I hated feeling that way. So it was a conscious effort for him though, to really put forth more of an effort.

There's many times now, he reaches out and grabs my hand, or he reaches out and puts his arms around me. Because he realizes how important that is to me. He realized he was in a rut, that he just got used to things the way they were. It wasn't until things shifted, that he realized what we were losing, because we had got into that rut.

NC: Yes, yes. I think that's a big thing. You know, we're talking today to those who are getting a little older. Maybe you're getting into a rut. There was a time when, well, when you first get married. In those first few years, you come together. You're intimate so frequently, and then it gradually sort of fades. You get less and less, until you're in the rut!

And you realize, “Help, we're not even really being who we're meant to be.” What did God say about marriage? The very first word that He said, “For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” That's the picture of marriage. It's one flesh.

Where, if we're not being one flesh together, well, really we haven't got much of a marriage, because that's what marriage is. So we mustn't ever let this just fade into oblivion! It can often happen without realizing it.

I remember, I think I was really in my 60's at this time. I remember suddenly waking up to my senses and thinking, “Wow, how long is it since we came together?” If I think back then, it was so disgusting to even think about it. I think it had been a couple of months. I realized, “Wow, I'm not just in a rut, I'm down, I'm stuck in the ditch! Goodness me, this is disgusting!”

So I had to rise up and realize this is not a marriage. I had to, like you did, OK, you come to your senses. You realize, this is not right! So you begin to make changes. You begin to pursue, and you begin to love. Maybe you don't feel like it, as you said, but as you do it, because you know this is what you're meant to do, it doesn't take long until, wow, you really feel like it!

Because it's amazing what happens with your...I think a lot of things are in our thought realm. It's how we think. When you begin to think love, when you begin to think even about coming together, you begin to put it into your thoughts. You put it into your actions. Then it just gets better and better and better, and becomes part of your life again!

Sherri: Yes, I would totally agree with that. In fact, even more so what I think. A lot of times, like when we get into that rut, and you found out you were actually stuck in the ditch! We get into that, right. We're just going along and muddling along.

It's almost, when we're not coming together as husband and wife, everything seems worse. The marriage, that is the part of the marriage that, it's so intimate. It's so private. It's just a time when the world goes away.

When we don't have that in our marriage, it's really hard to say things. One of the wonderful reasons why we have a marriage is, it's a time the world can go away, and you have one another. It's that time of oneness. It also just brings together, I mean it's the perfect picture of Christ and the church, that oneness.

So when we're right in that area, everything else is just right. It just makes everything perfect.

NC:  Absolutely! It just makes such a difference in your relationship. You know, well, instead of just being bored, life is exciting and wonderful! You're talking about, and there's something else, we're going to come onto something else later in this podcast, a very practical thing.

But before we get to that, I love getting back to the Word. You mentioned that marriage is a picture of Christ and His church. I love this quote of John Piper. I think it is my most favorite quote about marriage. He said, John Piper says, “There has never been a generation whose view of marriage is high enough.” I believe that's true. I don't think I have the whole view of how God sees marriage. I don't think any of us do.

Because I don't even think we understand the fullness of the relationship of Christ and His Bride. We don't even understand that to the full. God has mandated marriage to be a picture of that. This is what God does. All these glorious things of God, even spiritual things, and even doctrinal things, God always has a practical outworking, a revelation on earth to show the reality of them.

I just was thinking of a few Scriptures this morning, as I was thinking of how we were going to talk about this together. I was going to the Song of Solomon, because this book, it can be read in a number of different ways.

It's like everything in the Word of God. There are layers and layers and layers. You can read something, and it's just so powerful and wonderful, and it speaks to you. But that's not the end of it! Another time God will bring that same Scripture to you, and there will be another layer, another depth. There's always more and more layers, and more and more depth.

Now the Song of Solomon, I love to read this book as the picture of Christ and His Bride. This is how I have always read it. There's just so much in it, as we read it this way. But it can also be read literally, as a picture of the husband and the wife. It's also a picture of God and His marriage to Israel. So it can be read in many ways. But when we just even look at it in the very natural way of the picture of the husband and wife...

Solomon 1:2 says, and it's the Bridegroom speaking, “Oh how I wish you were...” No, it's the Bride. “Oh, how I wish you would kiss me passionately, for your lovemaking...” That's actually the word in the Hebrew. In the King James it just says, “For your love is better than wine.” And we just read it over. But when you go back to the Hebrew, the word, the Hebrew word dode, it actually means lovemaking in the plural.

It goes on, verse 4, “Draw me...” The bride becomes the willing prisoner of his love. “Draw me after you. Let us hurry. May the king bring me into his bedroom chambers.” It's talking about that intimate place of lovemaking.

Chapter 4, verse 10, says, “How much better is your lovemaking than wine!” It's more intoxicating than wine. It goes on, “The fragrance of your perfume is better than spice. Your lips drip sweetness, like the honeycomb, my bride. Honey and milk are under your tongue.”

I often... That verse is often a challenge to me, even in the spiritual realm. Of course, it's so practical, too, but when we are reading it from a picture of Christ and His church, and Christ is saying to the Bride, He's saying to you and me... He's saying to us, as a wife, or can our husband say this to us, as a wife?

We hope this will be our language with our Heavenly Bridegroom. But can a husband say to us, “Oh, my bride, your lips are so sweet! Oh! Honey and milk just drip from your tongue.” What an amazing picture of the way we speak! Oh my.

So it's always a challenge to me. Oh my, how do I speak to my husband? I mean, can he say, “Oh darling, your words are so sweet! You just drip sweetness like the honeycomb.” Because that's what the honeycomb does. It just drips honey. And honey is sweet. That's meant to be the picture of the wife. She's always dripping sweet words to her husband. Isn't that a challenge?

Sherri: That is definitely a challenge! I would encourage you, just add onto this, how much it affects the atmosphere of the home. The children hear it, they sense it, they feel it. Yes, it's phenomenal to really get this.

NC: That's true. I do believe we are meant to be thinking of sweet words to say to our husbands continually. Always speaking sweet  things to them, calling them sweet things, thinking of more sweet words that we can say to them. That part of being the wife, the captivating intoxicating wife.

So yes, anyway, I was looking at Ezekiel 16, verse 8. This is a picture God paints of how He brought Israel into covenant with Him, into a marriage covenant. It says here... The whole of Ezekiel 16 is a beautiful picture.

He says, “And I passed by you and watched you, noticing that you had reached the age for lovemaking.” It's the same word that's used in the Song of Solomon. “'I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you, and entered into a marriage covenant with you,' declares the sovereign Lord. And you became mine.”

Isn't that amazing? God is showing that it was like a marriage when he brought Israel to Himself. He made a covenant with them. He gave them many, many promises and covenants. He said, “You are mine.” That is the relationship God wants with Israel. It's the relationship He wants with us, His Bride. Our God is a jealous God.

I was reminded again this morning as I was thinking about this, of the Ten Commandments. Just going back to the Ten Commandments in Exodus, chapter 20. What is the very first commandment? What is it? “I am the Lord thy God, which has brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

In other words, God is saying, “OK, I brought you out of Egypt, Israel, and I brought you into the land. I found a home for you, for you to live, because you are mine. I found your home. I provided for you.” That's what the Bible says, that God went before them, and searched out a home for them. That's what He did. “And I made you mine,” as we read in Ezekiel 16, with a marriage covenant.

Therefore He says to them, “You will have no other god but Me.” And of course, this is also to us, as his church, His Bride, how we should have no other god but him. But because, and I never thought of this before, because marriage is the picture of the relationship God has with us, it is the same with our husbands.

We should have no other god, well, no other person but him, you know, that takes more of the place of him. Apart from God. He is first place. Then our husbands. We don't have anybody else in life who takes a higher place than him, because he is the picture of God, and this relationship God has with His people. Isn't that amazing?

Sherri: Yes!

NC: It is, and so, if we look at that, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Why? Because God says, “I'm married to you. Therefore, there's no one else.”

Like in the marriage vows, what does it say? “I take you,” whoever you are, “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others. Be faithful only to her or him, as long as we both shall live.”

You see, that's the picture of the covenant God has made with us. He's our husband, He is our God. We belong to Him. He's made us His.

When a young couple get married, they have their wedding, they do their vows. But they're not really married yet. They're not. They're not married.

It's only as they go into the bedchamber, and they consummate their marriage. Now they are one flesh, and the husband makes his wife “mine. You are mine.” And then she is his.

As it says in the Song of Solomon, “I am my beloved's, and he is mine.” That is the relationship with Christ and the Church. But that's the relationship of the husband and the wife. We are to reveal that relationship. So we never have anybody else, even in our minds.

That's a big thing, because the enemy, he's always out to trip us up. He's out to destroy marriages. And as marriages are destroyed, firstly, it began with a thought.

Sherri: That's right.

NC: Everything begins with a thought! And therefore, even in our mind, we have to bring every thought into captivity to Christ, so that we do not allow others in. Forsaking all others, because my husband is a picture of the relationship of God and His church. I don't have any other God.

So it's very powerful. These Ten Commandments relate to the marriage. The beginning commandment is amazing. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous god.”

Just as a husband is jealous of his wife, or a wife jealous of her husband, that is not wrong.

Sherri: No!

NC: We are meant to be jealous of one another, because God is jealous of his bride.

Sherri: Yes!

NC: Isn't that true?

Sherrie: Yes, that's very, very, true.

NC: Yes. Jealousy is not wrong when it's a holy jealousy, where I am jealous for my husband because he is mine, and nobody else's. He is jealous for me because I belong to him, and nobody else. Just as we belong to God, and God is jealous over us. If a husband is not jealous over his wife, there's something wrong with him.

Sherri: That's right!

NC: It is so true! Yes! And then it goes on, and then, this spoke to me too, Sherri. Tell me what you think about this. “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.”

Now, this is also a picture. You see, this is the picture of the relationship. These commandments are not “Oh, thou shalt...” No! They're a picture of relationship. The relationship of God and His people, Israel. The relationship of God, of Christ, and His Bride.

And we, in our marriages, are a picture of that relationship. So here the same word comes to us. We could have it said to us, “You will not take your husband's name in vain.”

Now that is the Word of God, because we are the picture. We are showing it to everyone, how it's meant to look. And so, as we dare not take God's name in vain... Now that's not, you know people say, “Oh, you know, God this,” and “God that” Well, that is taking the Name of the Lord God in vain.

But it's more than that. It's not giving Him the honor, the honor, the reverence that's due to His holy, glorious Name. It's taking His Name lightly, so it doesn't mean anything. So it's, oh boy, how often we can do that to our own husbands.

I know that I have been guilty over the years of not honoring his name as I should, taking it lightly, maybe speaking disparagingly about him, or just criticizing him, and so on. That's taking his name in vain. What do you think about that?

Sherri: I would totally agree with you. There's nothing that a man needs more than our respect. And so I had never thought of this in the light that you're bringing up. But it is so true. Our husbands need our respect. If we're in a conversation with women, and they start bashing their husbands, we need to either leave, or put a stop to it!

NC: Exactly!

Sherri: My personality would be, I would need to say something. And say, “We need to not be speaking about our husbands this way, because they need our respect.” That's why the Scripture talks about women need love, men need respect. There's nothing higher that a man needs. So that would be taking his name in vain, by just being so casual, or like you're saying, critical, whatever it is. I have, myself, been guilty of it, far too many times.

NC: Actually, before we even get onto the vain, the word to “thou shalt not take,” do you know what the Hebrew there is? It means “thou shalt not carry.” or “thou shalt not bear the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

What it's saying is, that we are the image-bearers of God. We are made in His likeness and image. We are to bear His image, to reveal what God is like. Now, when we take God lightly, and we're not revealing Who He is in our lives, we are really taking His Name in vain.

It's very powerful now, when we bring that back to marriage. Are we carrying our husband's name with honor, bearing his name with honor? Or just tearing it, looking, you know, doing it in vain, just being so, as you use the word, “casual.”

“Casual” means to  take it in vain, means to take it lightly, to not really take it seriously. How easily we can bear our husband's name in vain! So it's worthless, not hold it up in honor. Oh my! This is challenging!

Sherri: It is very challenging. As you were talking, two things came to me. One, my husband's name, David, happens to mean “beloved.” So am I speaking his name, that is speaking out the name of of his name, my beloved?

But also this take me to Proverbs 31. When we are not holding our husband's name in reverence, giving him respect, that's the reflection. He's not going to be sitting in the gates...

NC: That's right...

Sherri: ...Thinking well of us, and being able to do the things that he needs to be able to do. So it's just... The implications are all throughout the Word, it's all over.

NC: And when we don't  give our husband honor, and don't give his name honor, it's really coming back on ourselves. We're going to bring destruction to ourselves.

Also, we're not going to live in the glory of all that our husband will do, as you have said. Because if a man knows that his wife thinks he's nothing much, and he's a bit worthless, and she's always criticizing him, always getting at him, and always nagging him...That guy is going to feel so worthless. How's he going to do anything?

Sherri: Right.

NC: He just can't do anything in life.

Wow! And time is going, and I have so much more to say, and you've still got to tell us, OK, some practical things of how you got out of this rut. So we better get on to that!

Sherri: Well, a couple of things, like I said, is I just determined in my mind to start showing my husband love in the ways, one, that it spoke to me. But also, learning his love language, which is, he loves to have things done for him.

So I starting setting up dates again. We used to date all the time. So I found things...He loves to fish. Not a big fisherman, but what I love to do is read. So he's just thrilled to have me with him. So he goes fishing. While I'm in the boat, I'm reading. We just have conversation, and we just enjoy that time.

He loves music. So many times he'll get his guitar out, and we'll just sit and we'll sing. It's things that brought us together to begin with. It's things that we have let slip, because of, as we said earlier, life and children, and all kinds of things. So we brought those things back.

But one of the main things, because I am getting older, when I reached menopause, and this is,  I cannot believe this... We women talk about birth, and all the child rearing years. But a lot of times, menopause is not talked about. I was actually very ignorant about it, haven't been talked to a lot about it, didn't realize a lot of the things that can happen, once we reach menopause

But one of the things I did not realize is how much hormones affect different aspects. So I wound up finding a doctor, he's a functional medicine doctor who uses bio-identical hormones. They're not synthetic. They're what your body produces. That has made a world of difference, in my frame of mind, and in my moods.

I've got five daughters, and I've never allowed my daughters the excuse of, “Oh, I don't feel well right now,” and so that's an excuse to sin. We may feel off, but never cease to sin. So anyways, the hormones have actually really really helped me with physical issues. That has made intimacy much easier.

NC: Yes, yes. I think that's very important. I think even in your 20's your hormones begin to decline. They decline more and more. So often by the time you're in your 50's, some women can get very dry, and find sexual intercourse no longer enjoyable, but even painful.

I think if that is the situation, you have to do something about it. This is the thing. Let's never stay in a rut, and just think, “Oh well, this is what is like now.” No! Never! Because there's always an answer, isn't there?

Sherri: Yes

NC: Of course, you know, we know that these synthetic hormones have so many other side effects. But you can search for a doctor who will prescribe for you bio-identical hormones. I guess many of you may have read Pearl's chapter in her very first Trim Healthy Mama book, where she wrote, actually they wrote a whole chapter on intimacy in marriage, and another chapter on hormones. That's really great reading.

But perhaps you could share with the ladies how you managed to... Did you have to search a bit to find? Because sometimes you do, ladies. You don't just give up on the first round. You've got to do some searching.

Sherri: Yes, I did. It took me a little while. I had actually found a bio-identical, a functional medicine doctor a few years ago, but he ended up retiring, and it took me a couple of years to find another one.

Basically, I started asking friends. Then I started doing internet searches. Once I did internet searches, then I started talking to people. A lot of times they have people who will actually give references. So I started talking to those people. It's worth searching out, though.

When I'm seeing a functional medicine doctor... Some people may not know what that is. Most doctors, if you have a blood test, they say the normal is between two and ten. A functional medicine doctor has learned that you're going to feel the best though, if that range is maybe between five and seven.

So they work to get whatever the blood test, and I'm just using this as a number out there. They work, it's a much smaller area. So you feel much better, because there's not this wide range.

Every person is different also. Women, their hormones are harder to adjust. It's an individual thing. So you  need to find a doctor that's willing to work with you and get your.... They can do the blood work, but it still comes down to how you're feeling.

Because my blood work right now, if somebody were to look at it, would go, “Wow! It's really kind of off!” But I'm feeling really good with where it's at. My doctor is like, “Hey, we're at that right now. Everything's good. There's no side effects. So we're good with where they're at.”

NC: Yes. So it just revolutionized your sexual intimacy. What about other things?

Sherri: Oh, yes. My mind clarity is there. I can actually multi-task again. My moods are much more even even-keeled.  I don't find things bother me as much as they used. to.

My energy level, I actually just told my doctor last month, I feel like I'm back in my 30's. And I'm almost 58, so I think that's pretty good to feel that I'm back in my 30's. You'll find me quite often out with the children playing volleyball. I'm walking three miles a day, most days. So I have the energy level back.

Oh, it really helped my sleep. I go to bed, fall asleep, and I sleep. It's wonderful. I wake up feeling rested. So there are many aspects, that though I didn't realize I would get a benefit from, I did.

NC: So,  if you are, perhaps, you know, getting in a little rut, well, don't stay there! Do some research. Get out of your rut! Just before we close...We could have gone for another hour, Sherri! Oh! So much to talk about on this subject.

But let me just close with another beautiful picture. I think it's good to be reminded of this. I love this Scripture in Proverbs 5, verses 16-19. It's speaking of the husband. It says,“Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own...” This is in the context of marriage. “...And not strangers' with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times.”

You know, that word is a very powerful word. It means, that word satisfy, it means “to slake the thirst, to make drunk, to satiate, to soak.” It's a pretty good word, isn't it? And then it goes on, “Let her breasts satisfy thee...” Sometimes? No, at all times.

Wow, we have to take notice, don't we, of every word in the Scripture. That's what I love to do when I'm reading the Word. I'm looking out for every word. I don't want to miss one word. Because, wow, there's a little phrase of three words, “At all times.”

Now, it's the Word of God. It's alive. It's living. It's powerful. It's real. It's eternal. I've got to take notice of it. So, if this is not your experience at this moment, we want you to get out of your little rut.

OK, I talked about “Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times. And be thou ravished...” Oh wow, that word, it means... Actually, the word in the Hebrew literally means “to lead astray.” It is used in other passages where a woman will lead a man astray. So it's used in the negative, but here it is used in the positive of a godly marriage.

It's saying that this should be the experience of the husband. That he will be satisfied, and satiated, and made drunk at all times, as he comes to his wife's breast. And he will be ravished with her love. Other translations say he will be “captivated, infatuated, intoxicated, made drunk”! Wow!

Now it says this about experience of the husband, but how can he have this experience without his wife? So we are the ones who make him intoxicated, and drunk, and captivated, and lead him astray! Wow, you're allowed to do that in marriage? Yes!

Then it goes on, here it says again, “always.” Another word, “Always with her love.” That word always is the Hebrew word tawmeed. It's a word that is often translated “continually.' It's not every now and then, not sometimes. It's continually.

It is exactly the same word that is used for the morning sacrifice and the evening sacrifice. It's the same word. Sometimes I joke with my husband and say, “Now, this word, remember it means morning and evening!” Well, that might be just a little too much for you, but at least it says here, “at all times,” continually!

OK, so you're getting the beautiful picture. That's how our marriage is meant to be! And if it's not, what do we do? We do something. And we get out of the rut! Amen?

Sherri: Amen!

NC: OK, well, we've got to close. Want to say something as we close?

Sherri: Just all I want to really tag onto is, I cannot emphasize enough to bring every thought captive. That's where it all begins. There is no sin in the temptation. It's when we let that temptation go.

NC: Amen. Yes. That's interesting. Our thoughts. So if there are thoughts that are wrong about our husband, or about maybe someone else, we take those captive. But then our thought realm is also to be used in the positive of thinking.

The more we think about our husband, the more we think sexually about our husband, the more we think of being intimate with our husband. Well, we're forever going to have thoughts that we shouldn't have because they are, what is the word? They are put upon our husband, which is the right way, instead of elsewhere. So we'd better stop talking.

OK, how many minutes have we gone? 41! Oh dear. OK. We'll stop.

Lord God, we come into Your Presence this morning. And we just tell You how much we love You. We thank You that You have made us Yours. We belong to You. You are our Beloved. We are Yours. We thank You.

Lord, we thank You that you have given us the privilege to have a very tangible manisfestation of this glorious truth. And You have chosen marriage to portray this glorious picture of the relationship that we can have with You, Lord, that is so intimate. But You want us to have it in our marriages.

Teach us, Lord God. We pray that You'll lead us more and more into the fullness, and the truth, and the glory of all that You have planned for us in our marriages. Lord, I pray for every lovely wife listening, that You will bless her. And that You will save her from ever living in a rut, in boringness, Lord, but that you will bring her into all the glory that You have for her. Lord, that you will, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, teach her how to think correctly. Lord, that You will bring her into that place of being an intoxicating and captivating wife. For this is Your plan for us. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.