Hey there, Bella Rose here. Thanks for joining. I am reading an excerpt from my book. I'm taking a break from

interviews over the summer. I think that God wants me to focus on family and some other things I believe

he's teaching me about. And I'm really grateful for, and I need space in my life to do that. I feel like you wanted me to let go D.O.I.M.

for a couple months. So I have re-recorded these excerpts for you to encourage you over the weeks that we won't be talking week to week like we have been.

But I hope these are encouraging you that they'll inspire you,

that you will go ahead and listen to them as each week goes by so that you can be inspired

for that week in your marital intimacy. So let's go ahead and jump into this week's excerpt.

Sex is vulnerable. Marital intimacy requires you to be vulnerable. My guess is you don't

like vulnerability. Like every other person on earth. It's messy, it's scary, it's uncomfortable,

and it makes you feel out of control so many times.

It's inherently risky.

You risk feeling foolish.

You open yourself up to ridicule and criticism.

You open yourself to danger.

I hear you, and almost nothing dredges up vulnerability like physical intimacy.

It's easy for me to shed tears in this area with my husband.

Nowadays, more good and healing tears than hurt and bad tears, but intense emotions either way.

Vulnerability is inherently close to tears, or close to our hearts.

It is in fact uncovering and exposing our true selves to one another.

In order to truly know your husband and to be known by him in the bedroom and in every other part of your marriage, the walls that normally are healthy to separate and guard ourselves must be brought low.

Unfortunately, life has taught us that being vulnerable can get us hurt.

In grade school, maybe your friend, or maybe you told a friend the name of your secret crush and she blabbed it to the whole school.

...