This is episode 151, with my friends and first couple on the podcast, Chris and Jamie Bailey!
Chris and Jamie are parents to three daughters, have two sons in love, grandparents, Christian counselors, marriage coaches, authors and now podcasters!
Today, they share their story of how God transformed their lives at the beginning of their marriage. And, now they are sharing what they’ve learned with us!
You will hear Jamie’s story of unhappiness as a child, getting pregnant as a teenager, and then finding herself in an abusive marriage. You will hear how Chris and Jamie met and more!
They have been through moves, loss, struggles with health, and the normal everyday challenges that life brings but what you will hear from them today is HOPE. The Hope that comes through Jesus and they are here to help us to enjoy the journey through Expedition Marriage!
SHOW NOTES:
Quotes from the episode:
“My daughter was the catalyst to completely change my life because I was willing to tolerate a lot but I was never willing to allow my child to.”
“He gave her that initial gift of a Father’s love.”
“I want you as my daughter and that’s so gospel centered.”
“I am the biggest believer in HOPE.”
“Hope was something I never had. I spent the first half of my life feeling hopeless.”
“Without even knowing what he was doing, he was showing me Jesus: the steadfastness, the faithfulness, the calm, the love.”
“I went from that hopeless, hurting woman to being fully healed to finding Christ in our relationship.”
“I was not fun to be married to at all.”
“I brought in all this luggage with me and he just let me unpack it.”
“I went from walking in the darkness in hopelessness to walking in great abundant light.”
“I don’t care how distraught you are, how horrible you think your marriage is…there is HOPE. There is hope for every single situation.”
“It’s not the problems, it what to do with them.”
“We embrace the difficulty of it.”
“We have a God who helps us do hard.”
“Our circumstances don’t dictate the joy that we can have in Christ.”
“Through the years, when hard and fear is chasing us, we stop, turn around and go ‘ok, I see you, come on in, do your thing, but you are gonna have to battle the Lord.”
Say to fear, “You’re not going to rule me.”
“We just kinda roll with what life give us anchored in the HOPE of Christ.”
“Couples who pray together daily have a 99% success rate.”
“Don’t sweep things under the rug.”
“Deal with the problems.”
“Marriage requires intentionality on a daily basis.”
“It’s not the problem, it’s what you do with them.”
Practical Advice for wives and husbands:
1) Don’t sweep things under the rug.
The average marriage struggles for 6 years before reaching out to get help.
2) Do a weekly check in with your spouse.
Scripture mentioned in the episode:
John 10:10
Paul about contentment
EAT READ LOVE
E: anything covered in chocolate
E: Chris: Greek food
R: Jamie: Keep your Love On & Palmer Girl
R: Chris: 4 habits of Joy a Filled Marriage
L: Bike Riding & Convertible Rides
CONNECT WITH CHRIS & JAMIE:
Find them at Expedition_Marriage on Instagram, on Facebook and grab an episode from their NEW podcast Expedition Marriage on your podcast app. All this and more on their web site at: Expedition Marriage.org