EP. 65: Building a Co-Missional Relationship (with Beth and Todd Guckenberger)

Have you ever felt disconnected from your partner, spouse, or someone you love? Maybe your schedules are getting busier everyday? Or do your kids distract you from paying attention to the other person? On this episode of God Hears Her, Eryn and Elisa talk with Beth and Todd Guckenberger, a married couple who decided years ago to set aside two hours a night to work on growing their marriage.

About Our Guests:

Beth and Todd met at the age of seventeen in a Young Life Bible study.  They experienced several international short-term mission trips together, and in the mid-nineties they were deeply moved by orphaned children they met in Mexico. In 1997, with a dream, a savings account, and each other, they packed and drove to Monterrey, Mexico, where they lived for fifteen years. Beth and Todd are the parents of eleven children—a family they’ve formed through biological, foster, and adoptive children, and a family who reminds them everyday to stay in the fight until every child is known and loved.

They lead Back2Back Ministries, an international orphan care organization with nine locations around the world. The combined 350 staff work relentlessly to find new and creative solutions to the challenges facing vulnerable children and their families.

Notes and Quotes:

• “Anyone can have a co-missional marriage.”
• “Sometimes you can make your family life be your exclusive mission.”
• “We are going to spend two hours a day only wearing that hat of spouse.”
• “It [the two hours] became the deepest breath of our day.”
• “The calling felt like a magnet, you could feel the resistance.”
• “Expectations are like premeditated resentments.”
• “Set aside time (any amount) where you are going to put away phones, don’t do the dishes, don’t help the kids, and spend time just the two of you.”
• “When you go through hard things together, it creates an intimate connection.”
• “Part of being co-missional is understanding that my agenda is not the most important.”

Links/Books/Resources Mentioned in Show : 

• If you or someone you know suspects any human trafficking activity, please call the National Human Trafficking hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text “HELP” to 233-733. Or you can go to michiganabolitionistproject.org to learn more. 
• Subscribe on iTunes!  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/god-hears-her-podcast/id1511046507?utm_source=applemusic&utm_medium=godhearsher&utm_campaign=podcast
• Order God Sees Her: 365 Devotions for Women by Women on Amazon.  https://amzn.to/32lYSgh
• Back2Back Ministries: https://back2back.org/
• Elisa’s Instagram: elisamorganauthor
• Eryn’s Instagram: eryneddy