Do you know the Bible says your spouse is to be your partner for life?

So parenting cannot supersede the importance of your marriage because when that kid is off and on their own,

you're supposed to have nurtured your marriage in such a way that the two of you all

can walk with each other all the way to the grade. Hello and welcome to another great day here

on Destin for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. Well,

if you ever wondered what life was like for Pastor Paul and his wife Meredith when they were newly

married, wonder no more because we're about to take you there.

This will be a great reminder for all of us that marriage can bring plenty of joy, but it

also comes with plenty of hard work and sacrifice.

Glad you're with us today as we move ahead in our teaching series, Straight Talk for Singles.

Online, you'll find us at Pastor Paul.net, where you can listen in your recent message

on demand, including today's. That's pastor paul.net. Subscribe to the podcast at Spotify or wherever

you enjoy your podcast. Now, here's Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory Message, act like a Christian

lady. Think like a Christian man.

I had just started weeks earlier, started as a pastor.

My first full-time job as a pastor was associate pastor of my home church in Philadelphia.

I started that position in March of 1982.

She and I married May 1st of 1982.

I was weeks into pastoring.

I had my assignment. I had directives from the Lord. Now I needed my wife. And we committed, and she knew what she was getting into. She came

and rolled up her sleeves and got to work. She walked with me as I learned from my little rookie mistakes as a pastor and all of that and working long hours because my daddy was my boss and he was so busy trying to convince the church that I wasn't going to get preferential treatment until he practiced reverse discrimination.

That man put me through the paces, had me working. Ask her, I was working 12, 14

...