Our Story: How We Built a Marriage with Love & Intentionality | COMMITTED HEARTS

Description

Welcome to Committed Hearts, a podcast for engaged and married couples who want a stronger, more connected, and more intentional relationship—without the pressure, the clichés, or the churchy tone. Just real talk, real tools, and real love.

In this very first episode, we’re sharing our story—how we met, fell in love, built a marriage rooted in commitment, faith, and friendship, and how we’ve learned (and keep learning) to put God at the center in a way that feels natural, not forced.

We open up about:

The unexpected parts of our love story
Seasons that stretched us and seasons that strengthened us
How we learned to communicate, forgive, and grow together
Why we believe God-centered relationships don’t have to be complicated
What Committed Hearts will bring you each week—practical tools, honest conversations, and encouragement you can apply right away

Whether you’re dating, engaged, newly married, or decades in, this episode sets the tone for the journey we’ll be taking together: authentic, relational, faith-aware, and deeply practical.

Join us as we share where it all began—and how you can build (or rebuild) a marriage that lasts.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
to committed hearts podcast and we are the porters william porter and i'm donna porter and we are so excited to be with you today we are launching this new podcast yes yes committed heart committed hearts Um, I said to you this morning, we were talking about it. I was like, I feel like we should launch with prayer and let's at least launch with prayer. So father, we just thank you right now for this podcast and we give it to you as an offering. And we trust you that you are going to reach the people that need to be reached. And so we say that we will say what needs to be said and they will hear what needs to be heard. And we thank you for that now. in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So I'm excited about this podcast. What about you?
Speaker #1
I'm very excited.
Speaker #0
So today we're going to introduce ourselves and we just been talking about it and really getting excited about, you know, what we get to do because we get to do this. Why do we even want to do a podcast?
Speaker #1
We have some information that would help people. I do believe we have information that could really make the foundation of marriage even stronger if you have one. If you don't, we can give you input to get you there. This is really important. This is very well needed.
Speaker #0
Very well needed. And so are we experts?
Speaker #1
Well, I'll tell you this. They do say if you did something longevity of 10 years or better, you can consider yourself as an expert. I believe we've been doing this 27 years. We are experts. But now we may not be experts for everybody. So we are experts. Ten years of anything, longevity, you'll consider.
Speaker #0
And we've got a lot more than ten years involved.
Speaker #1
So we are experts.
Speaker #0
Yeah. We've been friends over 45 years, right? So I was 14 and you were 16. 16,
Speaker #1
yes.
Speaker #0
And you are my boyfriend.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
And you still are.
Speaker #1
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker #0
And you still are. And so we're very excited, too. We're going to get a chance to share our lives. And, you know, I was researching about podcasts and we know we watch some podcasts. We watch marriage podcasts and there's some something for everyone. Absolutely. Right. And so I was researching and just looking at what what makes a great podcast. And one of the things that came in my heart is authenticity. And so I know that we are very authentic. We will laugh. We will cry. We will have fun. We will be transparent. We're going to tell on ourselves. I get to tell on you.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
You don't get to tell on me, but I get to tell on you.
Speaker #1
You know I have nothing to tell on you.
Speaker #0
You have nothing to tell on me. Okay. All right. He's going to repent, and then we're going to move forward. But we're going to have a great time just getting to share with the people. I feel like we've had some experiences that will be helpful to people's lives. One of the things I do know is that there is a bait for every kind of fish.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
Right. So we may be your bait. Right. We may be the one who assigned to speak into your life. And so we're very excited to do that. Matter of fact, we're not just excited. We're committed.
Speaker #1
But two things have to happen. Now, you know, if you if you're fishing and you put something on the bait, a bait on the hook, that fish may not want to be caught. He want to steal what's on your hook and move forward. But in this you need to that need to reverse. You want to be caught with the bait we given so that you're. Marriage can become even stronger. You can become recommit if you need to become committed. Commitment means you do it no matter what, whether you feel like it. If it's not going your way, it's not the best day. I'm going to commit no matter what comes up. We are committed to the cause.
Speaker #0
And I love this, which is part of why we chose committed hearts, because you need to be sold out. You need to be like, you know what? We're going to do this and we're going to do whatever it takes so that we can do this. I know one of the things that you and I talked about, like when we were first dating, first deciding to get married and everything, I was like, look, I don't just want to be married.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
I want to have a great marriage. That's right. And so and we're committed to that. Committed to that. And so we're going to get a chance to share with people some very practical things that can be done. To ensure that you have a great marriage.
Speaker #1
And there's certain things we say, we put into play. We say, we have a great marriage, but we believe it can be better.
Speaker #0
Absolutely.
Speaker #1
So we commit it to that, to whatever it takes for it to be better. That's what we do. We never get...
Speaker #0
to a place where okay it's good now we just float no we said we expecting a better a great marriage but we expect it to get better so we have to work towards that that's where the commitment comes that's where the commitment comes in and so if you're watching us and you're like well i'm just gonna check this out because uh you may say we need some help hey guess what we needed help too right and so There are some principles. Now, the things that we're going to share with you, they're going to be ground in biblical principles. And but it's not going to come off like all real religious or anything. But God's word will be the foundation of things that we talk about and that we share about. And it may not be scripture, but it will be God's principles and God's principles work because marriage is God's idea.
Speaker #1
And honestly, I don't I don't see how the commitment could be carried through. If you don't follow biblical teachings or some things have to be there, any successful businessman, whether he say it or not, he practiced biblical principles in order for it to become strong. So in a marriage, we have to practice some of the traits so that our character will change. If we don't, we don't do that. What character do we have to follow?
Speaker #0
So in order to be really committed to one another. We suggest that you are committed to God and committed to his word. And if you're committed to God and his word, it's going to work.
Speaker #1
And if you're not, just stick around long enough. This will bring change. Then you do whatever you need to do to commit to your marriage.
Speaker #0
Absolutely. And so there is hope for you. There's hope no matter what's going on in your relationship, no matter whether he wants to or I don't want to. And none of that matters if you commit. to the principles of God's word, it will work for you.
Speaker #1
And see that the key to this is, let's say this, a lot of times you really only know what you've seen in a marriage. So a lot of things in the marriage, if it was not done right, that's all you know. So if you don't come with the expectation of being committed to something new, you won't do nothing new because what you see is all you know. So if that's all you know, then you lock yourself out for new things on new goals. So what happens is we, a lot of times we're dealing with things in our marriage based off what we've seen. But the only marriage you probably know is your parents. And if your parents are not married, it could be your grandparents, whoever was in your life. That's the marriage you've seen. Well, if that's all you've seen, I mean, that's all you know. So if you want new things, you got to open yourself up and commit to what you hear and then apply it in your life.
Speaker #0
Well, I'm excited because I know that if people will watch. Stay connected. Stay committed to this commitment, right? Because it's a commitment. Stay committed and watch it work for your life. Things can change, man. I trust that things can change for your marriage. It'll get better and better, greater. Yes, Lord. Absolutely. Talk about our relationship. So we already said I was 14, you were 16. And we were doing things that our parents didn't want us to do and that God wouldn't want us to do. But we were doing things. But we were doing them. We were doing things. And because we were doing things, our parents said, y'all going to stop doing things. Yes. Matter of fact, y'all not even going to see each other no more.
Speaker #1
We was practicing marriage when we was dating. Then marry us. Things that married people did.
Speaker #0
Right. And so they had us stop seeing each other. And you went into the military, and we kind of moved on with our lives. Yes. But we were always friends. That's right. We were always friends. That's right. I'll never forget, your mom actually said, if it takes 20 years, if it was meant to be, even if it takes 20 years, we would come back together. We would come back together.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
And it was actually 20 years exactly that you found me.
Speaker #1
I found you. That's right.
Speaker #0
You found me.
Speaker #1
I would say who finds a wife finds a good thing. So I just need to be patient. I found my wife and it's a good thing.
Speaker #0
You found me. So let's share with people a little bit. There's several things that we are able to help people with. First of all, we've both been divorced before.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
Right. So we have that experience. Right. We don't advertise that as something wonderful. But it's going to be helpful for some of you. That's right. You're like, this may be my second marriage, and I don't really understand. I don't know how to do this again. But we have some experience with that. And not only that, we both have a lot of experience. both had children when we got together so we have some blended uh family experience so if you're out there and you're watching he was like yeah but how do you do this you know he's got kids i got kids we trying to come together oh man we got some experience with blending yes i just go with blending we have some experience with that as well and so um there are so many different areas of marriage and I think that we would be able to help.
Speaker #1
Well, really, any area of marriage, we can help them. I mean, after 27 years, we're still experiencing, we're still learning. But I think that's a lot, we know. Once again, any time in 10 years, you're an expert at this. So whether they believe that or not, just the longevity.
Speaker #0
I don't think longevity is enough because we talk about this, that there are people who have been married a long time, but they don't have good marriages.
Speaker #1
Right. But with the longevity, at least you're there to get it right. And if you watch this, whether you've been married 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, it will rekindle the commitment that you're in, which will make that marriage great. And it becomes better because now you're open to new things. So as long as you're there and committed to changing things, to watch things to be different, then you can have 40 years. It's longevity because you're still there, but it can get great. Why? Because you're watching something new and you apply it. We done done this with people. That's been my 60 years. And listen, they rekindled like as if it was brand new.
Speaker #0
But that was the key. They heard the principles and they applied.
Speaker #1
Listen.
Speaker #0
So it's not just being there. You've got to hear the principles. You have to apply the principles. And so we're going to have a great time over all of these podcasts sharing principles and that people can actually apply. We love practical applications. And so we're going to talk about those kind of things. So I want to, you know, I call you boo sometimes, big daddy other times.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
I love them. I told you that. It does something to me. Okay. So we're going to talk about, you know, we found me. Well, you found me.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
You found me. You found me. I was going home to New Jersey for the very first time. And I had four children at the time. Right. And so my children and I, we're on our way home to New Jersey. And I'm staying at my parents' house, and I have a dream that night. And I wake up the next morning, and I tell my family, I had a dream of an old boyfriend, and he kissed me. And my son said, I'm buying that. They didn't want me to ever be hurt again. And so, and you were the old boyfriend in my dream. And so it's Thanksgiving weekend. And here we are. I'm in New Jersey. I had not seen you. Like, we had not been communicating. I had not seen you. And so in years, at least 20, maybe something like that. And so anyway, my mom and I, my mom, not my mom and I, my mom wants to go to Walmart Black Friday. And so I was like, man, I don't really want to go. to Walmart, but I'm going to go and be with my mom. Now you guys know back in the day, you was at Black Friday, you was out there at 5.30, 6 o'clock in the morning when that store opened, you are in that line. And so my mom and I, we go into Walmart. And so here we are in Walmart. My mom's in one part of the store. I'm over near the jewelry counter.
Speaker #1
And here is this man,
Speaker #0
The boyfriend that I saw the night before. is now standing by the jewelry counter talking to me, right? And what did you say when you saw me?
Speaker #1
I said, hey, Donna, what you doing here? I don't even know your last name, but I know Donna Bowling. I said, I'm in love still with Donna Bowling. What are you doing here? Wow. And I think you told me, well, I'm here visiting for Thanksgiving. I said, well, we had a brief conversation, and I. I believe I asked, where are you staying? You said, at your mom's. I said, well, I'm going to stop by. I'm going to go by. And later on, I get my son. I said, where's the kids? Is the kids here with you? Yeah, I said, is your husband here with you? I have a husband. And I said, thank you, Lord. But no, no, no. I didn't say that. But I'm telling you what I was thinking. Well, anyway, I said, I'm going to come by and see the children. And yeah, I would like to meet them. So I went home. Well, I went and continued my shopping. I'm sure you continue yours. I came there to get my son a bike. And it's just amazing. When I got there, one bike left. Even after that conversation, you know, this Black Friday, if anyone could remember it, you had. The hurry up and get in the hustle because people are getting stuff. But that one seemed to have my name on it and no one else want to get it but mine. So I know this was a God set up.
Speaker #0
A God set up.
Speaker #1
So I picked up that bike and then I came to your mom's house. When I came to your mom's house, I believe it was you and I.
Speaker #0
You tried to kiss me.
Speaker #1
I did. I really did. And I don't know why you didn't receive it. No,
Speaker #0
because one of the kids came.
Speaker #1
I remember you right. So we couldn't get that on. But anyway, I told you, you do know. you my wife it's just amazing the way that happens it's so bold uh yeah you just told me straight you said i don't even know your your married name but i still love and you call me by my maiden name love is bold love is bold it's bold i mean if you're in love with someone you just tell them straight up it's bold now what they do with it how to receive it i mean what i mean i can't i can't uh downplay it i can't uh yeah it's bold i'm in love i'm not
Speaker #0
I love that. Love is bold. Thank you for being bold. Thank you for being.
Speaker #1
I mean, I'm so bold. Some of the stories I don't know if I would tell them, but I was so bold. I mean, you know, I was trying to communicate and really my communication was not to not to interrupt with anything. But I had really cared about you so much so that a lot of our friends would say, I seen, I seen Donna. I said, really, how was she doing? They say she's doing good. So if I was in town, I would stop by mom's and say, hey, you know, tell Donna I asked about her. But really, my concern was, is she OK? If someone says, are you OK? I'm good. But if I wasn't getting that, then my, I guess, my curiosity.
Speaker #0
Curiosity led you to find me.
Speaker #1
To find.
Speaker #0
And to find out if I was OK.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
And at that time, I really wasn't OK. But God in his goodness set us up. Yes, that's right. He set us up in Walmart.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
And, you know. So after that, I'm going back to Florida. I don't even live in New Jersey, right? And I'm going back the next day, and you called me.
Speaker #1
Called you on the way back. I said, what is my wife doing?
Speaker #0
So you called me, and you were very persistent, right? You were committed. You were very persistent, and you were calling. My son would tell you that I wasn't home.
Speaker #1
Well, let's put some on the record now. Understand, we did not pursue divorce because of you and I. That was already in the play when you and I had to connect. So we want to make sure that's on the record. Yes, so everything was a setup. I mean, this was done prior. So what we were doing after that was totally legit and legal.
Speaker #0
I love it. You actually came and we sat down with my pastor. And my pastor told me, he said, I don't really know him, but I know him by his spirit. spirit and that the Lord has sent you, not just for me, but also for my children. And so I want to encourage people that it can happen for you, too. It can happen for you, too. We're not suggesting that you get out of a relationship unless you're being physically abused or some kind of domestic abuse, something like that. But if you want your marriage and you make the commitment. It can happen for you. Now, we had a lot of things. We had a lot of things we had to learn because I was used to doing things my way. He was used to doing things his way. I was raising my children one way. He was raising his son another way. And here we come. We got to blend now. We got to blend. We got to bring all of this together. And so we're going to have so much fun sharing with you how we brought things together, things that we learn. things we even messed up on.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
Right. Things we did wrong. Right. And thank God, if you're doing some things, you're doing them wrong. It's like, this ain't working. This not working. So, hey, you will be able to hear principles that will cause you to make a shift, change some things, do some things different. And we can guarantee you that if you do what the word of God says, it'll work for you. It will work.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
It'll work. And so we're excited about the podcast because we're going to have fun. We're going to laugh. We're going to cry. We're going to do different things, share different things, and just get a chance to grow together. Are you committed? Are you committed? Right. Are you committed to your commitment? Because marriage is a commitment.
Speaker #1
And the thing is, even if it looked messy, if it don't look like you think it's going your way, you still be committed to even work through that. It will change. Commitment will bring about a change because When you're committed to something, you don't just leave or walk away because something's going your way at that time. You even got to press through that. I'm committed to this no matter what.
Speaker #0
I'm committed when you get on my nerves.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
I'm committed when I don't like you.
Speaker #1
I'm committed.
Speaker #0
I'm committed.
Speaker #1
I'm committed in all the wonderful things.
Speaker #0
In all those wonderful things. I'm committed. We're going to work through this. One of the things that we decided right from the beginning is that we don't even say divorce.
Speaker #1
No, we don't use it.
Speaker #0
We don't use that word. It's not an option for us. And so when you're really committed, that's the decision that you have to make because commitment is a decision. Right.
Speaker #1
And we will say this. We do not abuse each other. And if it's something that may even be in the arena of abuse, once we bring it to each other's attention, we change that. When we're not saying, once again, if you're being abused verbally, physically, then we don't expect you. Get away from that because that's toxic. But if it's where I'm not being that and some things may not be the way I want, just make a small adjustment and just be committed to it. Now, once again, if it's abusive, don't stay. I mean, that's your decision. But if it's not that, commit yourself to work through it and you will see.
Speaker #0
It's actually better today than it's ever been.
Speaker #1
It gets better and better.
Speaker #0
It gets better and better.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day. And so I'm excited because we're going to get a chance to share principles that we learned and that we are still learning. Amen. And still putting into play today.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
And we're seeing them work.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
Big daddy.
Speaker #1
And we're still practicing them.
Speaker #0
Still.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day.
Speaker #1
Why? We're great, but we wanted to get better.
Speaker #0
We wanted to get greater. greater greater greater greater why because we are committed to the cause all right so committed hearts are you committed are you committed to your marriage like right now you was like i don't know i don't know about this i don't even know who y'all are you know i just decided i'm just gonna check y'all out for a few minutes hey uh go ahead and make a decision to commit that's the good thing about this
Speaker #1
Oh, you don't know who we are. We don't know who you are, but we do know if this can help you, if we can create a relationship to where not only does this, once again, commit your marriage to a good foundation, but it commits our marriage to a good foundation because we help someone like someone helped us. So we have to share what we know. But once we don't know you, you don't know us. But trust us. We trust you. We're still listening to the change your life if you apply.
Speaker #0
Because one day we were in somebody's office.
Speaker #1
Yes, we were. Many a times.
Speaker #0
Many a times. Many a times. Yes, we were. Asking for help or seeking help, that's wisdom.
Speaker #1
Wisdom.
Speaker #0
Right? When you're committed to the relationship, you do what you need to do so that things can get better. And it's okay. It's okay. And so I thank God that we... We didn't allow pride or shame to keep us from hearing the instructions that we needed to hear so that we could be better. Hey, we wouldn't be here.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
28 years later, if we hadn't listened to some principles that were taught to us. Amen. And I'm so grateful. And our children are grateful.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
And our grandchildren are grateful. Yes. Right. So we have six children together. And we are empty nesters. Yes, we are. We are empty nesters, and we have 12 grandchildren and two more on the way. And so we are so excited. We are G-Ma and Papa. And so we're living a great life right now. We are both called to the ministry.
Speaker #1
Yes, we are.
Speaker #0
And marriage is a ministry.
Speaker #1
Yes, it is.
Speaker #0
And it's my first ministry. That's right. It's my first ministry. And so no matter what you have going on in your life. Commit to your marriage. Commit to your relationship. Commit to each other. And watch what God is going to do in your house. It's going to be good.
Speaker #1
It's going to be great.
Speaker #0
I'm excited.
Speaker #1
Ready?
Speaker #0
You ready? What are you ready for?
Speaker #1
Well, to do this, honestly, to do this committed heart thing, because I do believe this is going to change some marriages I'm talking about all over the world. If they listen to this. the change starts immediately.
Speaker #0
Yeah, so today was just about introduction. Today was like kind of giving them a little piece of who we are and what we're going to do. But when we come back on the next podcast, we'll have specific topics that we're going to talk about and discover and just kind of go through some things. But one of the things we want to make sure that we do is give you some practical tips. Right? So You've already been listening to us today. You say, I don't know if I like them. Oh, I do like them, right? You're going to make a decision whether you're going to listen to this podcast ever again, right? Because there's so much out there. We understand that you have choices. You have options. But I say to you, this is a great choice. Committed heart.
Speaker #1
Committed heart.
Speaker #0
I'm Donna Porter.
Speaker #1
I'm William Porter, and we approve this message.
Speaker #0
Yes, we do.
Speaker #1
Yes, we do.
Speaker #0
We approve this message. Stay tuned. Stay with us. You won't regret it. Your hearts should be committed.

Chapters

Introduction to COMMITTED HEARTS Podcast
12sec
The Importance of Commitment in Marriage
1min
Grounding Marriage in Biblical Principles
3min
Sharing Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned
5min
Looking Forward: Future Topics and Practical Tips
21min

About COMMITTED HEARTS

Welcome to Committed Hearts, a weekly podcast for engaged and married couples who want to build a strong, lasting, and God-centered relationship—without pressure, perfection, or churchy overload.

Hosted by The Porters—pastors, marriage counselors, and partners for more than 25 years—each episode blends real-life stories, faith-shaped wisdom, and practical tools couples can apply right away.

You’ll hear honest conversations about communication, connection, conflict, intimacy, and spiritual growth—delivered with grace, humor, and zero judgment.

Whether you're newly engaged or decades into marriage, Committed Hearts will encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow together emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

Because great marriages aren’t found—they’re intentionally built, one committed heart at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About COMMITTED HEARTS

You’ll hear honest conversations about communication, connection, conflict, intimacy, and spiritual growth—delivered with grace, humor, and zero judgment.

Whether you're newly engaged or decades into marriage, Committed Hearts will encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow together emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

Because great marriages aren’t found—they’re intentionally built, one committed heart at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

We open up about:

The unexpected parts of our love story
Seasons that stretched us and seasons that strengthened us
How we learned to communicate, forgive, and grow together
Why we believe God-centered relationships don’t have to be complicated
What Committed Hearts will bring you each week—practical tools, honest conversations, and encouragement you can apply right away

Whether you’re dating, engaged, newly married, or decades in, this episode sets the tone for the journey we’ll be taking together: authentic, relational, faith-aware, and deeply practical.

Join us as we share where it all began—and how you can build (or rebuild) a marriage that lasts.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
to committed hearts podcast and we are the porters william porter and i'm donna porter and we are so excited to be with you today we are launching this new podcast yes yes committed heart committed hearts Um, I said to you this morning, we were talking about it. I was like, I feel like we should launch with prayer and let's at least launch with prayer. So father, we just thank you right now for this podcast and we give it to you as an offering. And we trust you that you are going to reach the people that need to be reached. And so we say that we will say what needs to be said and they will hear what needs to be heard. And we thank you for that now. in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So I'm excited about this podcast. What about you?
Speaker #1
I'm very excited.
Speaker #0
So today we're going to introduce ourselves and we just been talking about it and really getting excited about, you know, what we get to do because we get to do this. Why do we even want to do a podcast?
Speaker #1
We have some information that would help people. I do believe we have information that could really make the foundation of marriage even stronger if you have one. If you don't, we can give you input to get you there. This is really important. This is very well needed.
Speaker #0
Very well needed. And so are we experts?
Speaker #1
Well, I'll tell you this. They do say if you did something longevity of 10 years or better, you can consider yourself as an expert. I believe we've been doing this 27 years. We are experts. But now we may not be experts for everybody. So we are experts. Ten years of anything, longevity, you'll consider.
Speaker #0
And we've got a lot more than ten years involved.
Speaker #1
So we are experts.
Speaker #0
Yeah. We've been friends over 45 years, right? So I was 14 and you were 16. 16,
Speaker #1
yes.
Speaker #0
And you are my boyfriend.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
And you still are.
Speaker #1
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker #0
And you still are. And so we're very excited, too. We're going to get a chance to share our lives. And, you know, I was researching about podcasts and we know we watch some podcasts. We watch marriage podcasts and there's some something for everyone. Absolutely. Right. And so I was researching and just looking at what what makes a great podcast. And one of the things that came in my heart is authenticity. And so I know that we are very authentic. We will laugh. We will cry. We will have fun. We will be transparent. We're going to tell on ourselves. I get to tell on you.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
You don't get to tell on me, but I get to tell on you.
Speaker #1
You know I have nothing to tell on you.
Speaker #0
You have nothing to tell on me. Okay. All right. He's going to repent, and then we're going to move forward. But we're going to have a great time just getting to share with the people. I feel like we've had some experiences that will be helpful to people's lives. One of the things I do know is that there is a bait for every kind of fish.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
Right. So we may be your bait. Right. We may be the one who assigned to speak into your life. And so we're very excited to do that. Matter of fact, we're not just excited. We're committed.
Speaker #1
But two things have to happen. Now, you know, if you if you're fishing and you put something on the bait, a bait on the hook, that fish may not want to be caught. He want to steal what's on your hook and move forward. But in this you need to that need to reverse. You want to be caught with the bait we given so that you're. Marriage can become even stronger. You can become recommit if you need to become committed. Commitment means you do it no matter what, whether you feel like it. If it's not going your way, it's not the best day. I'm going to commit no matter what comes up. We are committed to the cause.
Speaker #0
And I love this, which is part of why we chose committed hearts, because you need to be sold out. You need to be like, you know what? We're going to do this and we're going to do whatever it takes so that we can do this. I know one of the things that you and I talked about, like when we were first dating, first deciding to get married and everything, I was like, look, I don't just want to be married.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
I want to have a great marriage. That's right. And so and we're committed to that. Committed to that. And so we're going to get a chance to share with people some very practical things that can be done. To ensure that you have a great marriage.
Speaker #1
And there's certain things we say, we put into play. We say, we have a great marriage, but we believe it can be better.
Speaker #0
Absolutely.
Speaker #1
So we commit it to that, to whatever it takes for it to be better. That's what we do. We never get...
Speaker #0
to a place where okay it's good now we just float no we said we expecting a better a great marriage but we expect it to get better so we have to work towards that that's where the commitment comes that's where the commitment comes in and so if you're watching us and you're like well i'm just gonna check this out because uh you may say we need some help hey guess what we needed help too right and so There are some principles. Now, the things that we're going to share with you, they're going to be ground in biblical principles. And but it's not going to come off like all real religious or anything. But God's word will be the foundation of things that we talk about and that we share about. And it may not be scripture, but it will be God's principles and God's principles work because marriage is God's idea.
Speaker #1
And honestly, I don't I don't see how the commitment could be carried through. If you don't follow biblical teachings or some things have to be there, any successful businessman, whether he say it or not, he practiced biblical principles in order for it to become strong. So in a marriage, we have to practice some of the traits so that our character will change. If we don't, we don't do that. What character do we have to follow?
Speaker #0
So in order to be really committed to one another. We suggest that you are committed to God and committed to his word. And if you're committed to God and his word, it's going to work.
Speaker #1
And if you're not, just stick around long enough. This will bring change. Then you do whatever you need to do to commit to your marriage.
Speaker #0
Absolutely. And so there is hope for you. There's hope no matter what's going on in your relationship, no matter whether he wants to or I don't want to. And none of that matters if you commit. to the principles of God's word, it will work for you.
Speaker #1
And see that the key to this is, let's say this, a lot of times you really only know what you've seen in a marriage. So a lot of things in the marriage, if it was not done right, that's all you know. So if you don't come with the expectation of being committed to something new, you won't do nothing new because what you see is all you know. So if that's all you know, then you lock yourself out for new things on new goals. So what happens is we, a lot of times we're dealing with things in our marriage based off what we've seen. But the only marriage you probably know is your parents. And if your parents are not married, it could be your grandparents, whoever was in your life. That's the marriage you've seen. Well, if that's all you've seen, I mean, that's all you know. So if you want new things, you got to open yourself up and commit to what you hear and then apply it in your life.
Speaker #0
Well, I'm excited because I know that if people will watch. Stay connected. Stay committed to this commitment, right? Because it's a commitment. Stay committed and watch it work for your life. Things can change, man. I trust that things can change for your marriage. It'll get better and better, greater. Yes, Lord. Absolutely. Talk about our relationship. So we already said I was 14, you were 16. And we were doing things that our parents didn't want us to do and that God wouldn't want us to do. But we were doing things. But we were doing them. We were doing things. And because we were doing things, our parents said, y'all going to stop doing things. Yes. Matter of fact, y'all not even going to see each other no more.
Speaker #1
We was practicing marriage when we was dating. Then marry us. Things that married people did.
Speaker #0
Right. And so they had us stop seeing each other. And you went into the military, and we kind of moved on with our lives. Yes. But we were always friends. That's right. We were always friends. That's right. I'll never forget, your mom actually said, if it takes 20 years, if it was meant to be, even if it takes 20 years, we would come back together. We would come back together.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
And it was actually 20 years exactly that you found me.
Speaker #1
I found you. That's right.
Speaker #0
You found me.
Speaker #1
I would say who finds a wife finds a good thing. So I just need to be patient. I found my wife and it's a good thing.
Speaker #0
You found me. So let's share with people a little bit. There's several things that we are able to help people with. First of all, we've both been divorced before.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
Right. So we have that experience. Right. We don't advertise that as something wonderful. But it's going to be helpful for some of you. That's right. You're like, this may be my second marriage, and I don't really understand. I don't know how to do this again. But we have some experience with that. And not only that, we both have a lot of experience. both had children when we got together so we have some blended uh family experience so if you're out there and you're watching he was like yeah but how do you do this you know he's got kids i got kids we trying to come together oh man we got some experience with blending yes i just go with blending we have some experience with that as well and so um there are so many different areas of marriage and I think that we would be able to help.
Speaker #1
Well, really, any area of marriage, we can help them. I mean, after 27 years, we're still experiencing, we're still learning. But I think that's a lot, we know. Once again, any time in 10 years, you're an expert at this. So whether they believe that or not, just the longevity.
Speaker #0
I don't think longevity is enough because we talk about this, that there are people who have been married a long time, but they don't have good marriages.
Speaker #1
Right. But with the longevity, at least you're there to get it right. And if you watch this, whether you've been married 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, it will rekindle the commitment that you're in, which will make that marriage great. And it becomes better because now you're open to new things. So as long as you're there and committed to changing things, to watch things to be different, then you can have 40 years. It's longevity because you're still there, but it can get great. Why? Because you're watching something new and you apply it. We done done this with people. That's been my 60 years. And listen, they rekindled like as if it was brand new.
Speaker #0
But that was the key. They heard the principles and they applied.
Speaker #1
Listen.
Speaker #0
So it's not just being there. You've got to hear the principles. You have to apply the principles. And so we're going to have a great time over all of these podcasts sharing principles and that people can actually apply. We love practical applications. And so we're going to talk about those kind of things. So I want to, you know, I call you boo sometimes, big daddy other times.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
I love them. I told you that. It does something to me. Okay. So we're going to talk about, you know, we found me. Well, you found me.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
You found me. You found me. I was going home to New Jersey for the very first time. And I had four children at the time. Right. And so my children and I, we're on our way home to New Jersey. And I'm staying at my parents' house, and I have a dream that night. And I wake up the next morning, and I tell my family, I had a dream of an old boyfriend, and he kissed me. And my son said, I'm buying that. They didn't want me to ever be hurt again. And so, and you were the old boyfriend in my dream. And so it's Thanksgiving weekend. And here we are. I'm in New Jersey. I had not seen you. Like, we had not been communicating. I had not seen you. And so in years, at least 20, maybe something like that. And so anyway, my mom and I, my mom, not my mom and I, my mom wants to go to Walmart Black Friday. And so I was like, man, I don't really want to go. to Walmart, but I'm going to go and be with my mom. Now you guys know back in the day, you was at Black Friday, you was out there at 5.30, 6 o'clock in the morning when that store opened, you are in that line. And so my mom and I, we go into Walmart. And so here we are in Walmart. My mom's in one part of the store. I'm over near the jewelry counter.
Speaker #1
And here is this man,
Speaker #0
The boyfriend that I saw the night before. is now standing by the jewelry counter talking to me, right? And what did you say when you saw me?
Speaker #1
I said, hey, Donna, what you doing here? I don't even know your last name, but I know Donna Bowling. I said, I'm in love still with Donna Bowling. What are you doing here? Wow. And I think you told me, well, I'm here visiting for Thanksgiving. I said, well, we had a brief conversation, and I. I believe I asked, where are you staying? You said, at your mom's. I said, well, I'm going to stop by. I'm going to go by. And later on, I get my son. I said, where's the kids? Is the kids here with you? Yeah, I said, is your husband here with you? I have a husband. And I said, thank you, Lord. But no, no, no. I didn't say that. But I'm telling you what I was thinking. Well, anyway, I said, I'm going to come by and see the children. And yeah, I would like to meet them. So I went home. Well, I went and continued my shopping. I'm sure you continue yours. I came there to get my son a bike. And it's just amazing. When I got there, one bike left. Even after that conversation, you know, this Black Friday, if anyone could remember it, you had. The hurry up and get in the hustle because people are getting stuff. But that one seemed to have my name on it and no one else want to get it but mine. So I know this was a God set up.
Speaker #0
A God set up.
Speaker #1
So I picked up that bike and then I came to your mom's house. When I came to your mom's house, I believe it was you and I.
Speaker #0
You tried to kiss me.
Speaker #1
I did. I really did. And I don't know why you didn't receive it. No,
Speaker #0
because one of the kids came.
Speaker #1
I remember you right. So we couldn't get that on. But anyway, I told you, you do know. you my wife it's just amazing the way that happens it's so bold uh yeah you just told me straight you said i don't even know your your married name but i still love and you call me by my maiden name love is bold love is bold it's bold i mean if you're in love with someone you just tell them straight up it's bold now what they do with it how to receive it i mean what i mean i can't i can't uh downplay it i can't uh yeah it's bold i'm in love i'm not
Speaker #0
I love that. Love is bold. Thank you for being bold. Thank you for being.
Speaker #1
I mean, I'm so bold. Some of the stories I don't know if I would tell them, but I was so bold. I mean, you know, I was trying to communicate and really my communication was not to not to interrupt with anything. But I had really cared about you so much so that a lot of our friends would say, I seen, I seen Donna. I said, really, how was she doing? They say she's doing good. So if I was in town, I would stop by mom's and say, hey, you know, tell Donna I asked about her. But really, my concern was, is she OK? If someone says, are you OK? I'm good. But if I wasn't getting that, then my, I guess, my curiosity.
Speaker #0
Curiosity led you to find me.
Speaker #1
To find.
Speaker #0
And to find out if I was OK.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
And at that time, I really wasn't OK. But God in his goodness set us up. Yes, that's right. He set us up in Walmart.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
And, you know. So after that, I'm going back to Florida. I don't even live in New Jersey, right? And I'm going back the next day, and you called me.
Speaker #1
Called you on the way back. I said, what is my wife doing?
Speaker #0
So you called me, and you were very persistent, right? You were committed. You were very persistent, and you were calling. My son would tell you that I wasn't home.
Speaker #1
Well, let's put some on the record now. Understand, we did not pursue divorce because of you and I. That was already in the play when you and I had to connect. So we want to make sure that's on the record. Yes, so everything was a setup. I mean, this was done prior. So what we were doing after that was totally legit and legal.
Speaker #0
I love it. You actually came and we sat down with my pastor. And my pastor told me, he said, I don't really know him, but I know him by his spirit. spirit and that the Lord has sent you, not just for me, but also for my children. And so I want to encourage people that it can happen for you, too. It can happen for you, too. We're not suggesting that you get out of a relationship unless you're being physically abused or some kind of domestic abuse, something like that. But if you want your marriage and you make the commitment. It can happen for you. Now, we had a lot of things. We had a lot of things we had to learn because I was used to doing things my way. He was used to doing things his way. I was raising my children one way. He was raising his son another way. And here we come. We got to blend now. We got to blend. We got to bring all of this together. And so we're going to have so much fun sharing with you how we brought things together, things that we learn. things we even messed up on.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
Right. Things we did wrong. Right. And thank God, if you're doing some things, you're doing them wrong. It's like, this ain't working. This not working. So, hey, you will be able to hear principles that will cause you to make a shift, change some things, do some things different. And we can guarantee you that if you do what the word of God says, it'll work for you. It will work.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
It'll work. And so we're excited about the podcast because we're going to have fun. We're going to laugh. We're going to cry. We're going to do different things, share different things, and just get a chance to grow together. Are you committed? Are you committed? Right. Are you committed to your commitment? Because marriage is a commitment.
Speaker #1
And the thing is, even if it looked messy, if it don't look like you think it's going your way, you still be committed to even work through that. It will change. Commitment will bring about a change because When you're committed to something, you don't just leave or walk away because something's going your way at that time. You even got to press through that. I'm committed to this no matter what.
Speaker #0
I'm committed when you get on my nerves.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
I'm committed when I don't like you.
Speaker #1
I'm committed.
Speaker #0
I'm committed.
Speaker #1
I'm committed in all the wonderful things.
Speaker #0
In all those wonderful things. I'm committed. We're going to work through this. One of the things that we decided right from the beginning is that we don't even say divorce.
Speaker #1
No, we don't use it.
Speaker #0
We don't use that word. It's not an option for us. And so when you're really committed, that's the decision that you have to make because commitment is a decision. Right.
Speaker #1
And we will say this. We do not abuse each other. And if it's something that may even be in the arena of abuse, once we bring it to each other's attention, we change that. When we're not saying, once again, if you're being abused verbally, physically, then we don't expect you. Get away from that because that's toxic. But if it's where I'm not being that and some things may not be the way I want, just make a small adjustment and just be committed to it. Now, once again, if it's abusive, don't stay. I mean, that's your decision. But if it's not that, commit yourself to work through it and you will see.
Speaker #0
It's actually better today than it's ever been.
Speaker #1
It gets better and better.
Speaker #0
It gets better and better.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day. And so I'm excited because we're going to get a chance to share principles that we learned and that we are still learning. Amen. And still putting into play today.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
And we're seeing them work.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
Big daddy.
Speaker #1
And we're still practicing them.
Speaker #0
Still.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day.
Speaker #1
Why? We're great, but we wanted to get better.
Speaker #0
We wanted to get greater. greater greater greater greater why because we are committed to the cause all right so committed hearts are you committed are you committed to your marriage like right now you was like i don't know i don't know about this i don't even know who y'all are you know i just decided i'm just gonna check y'all out for a few minutes hey uh go ahead and make a decision to commit that's the good thing about this
Speaker #1
Oh, you don't know who we are. We don't know who you are, but we do know if this can help you, if we can create a relationship to where not only does this, once again, commit your marriage to a good foundation, but it commits our marriage to a good foundation because we help someone like someone helped us. So we have to share what we know. But once we don't know you, you don't know us. But trust us. We trust you. We're still listening to the change your life if you apply.
Speaker #0
Because one day we were in somebody's office.
Speaker #1
Yes, we were. Many a times.
Speaker #0
Many a times. Many a times. Yes, we were. Asking for help or seeking help, that's wisdom.
Speaker #1
Wisdom.
Speaker #0
Right? When you're committed to the relationship, you do what you need to do so that things can get better. And it's okay. It's okay. And so I thank God that we... We didn't allow pride or shame to keep us from hearing the instructions that we needed to hear so that we could be better. Hey, we wouldn't be here.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
28 years later, if we hadn't listened to some principles that were taught to us. Amen. And I'm so grateful. And our children are grateful.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
And our grandchildren are grateful. Yes. Right. So we have six children together. And we are empty nesters. Yes, we are. We are empty nesters, and we have 12 grandchildren and two more on the way. And so we are so excited. We are G-Ma and Papa. And so we're living a great life right now. We are both called to the ministry.
Speaker #1
Yes, we are.
Speaker #0
And marriage is a ministry.
Speaker #1
Yes, it is.
Speaker #0
And it's my first ministry. That's right. It's my first ministry. And so no matter what you have going on in your life. Commit to your marriage. Commit to your relationship. Commit to each other. And watch what God is going to do in your house. It's going to be good.
Speaker #1
It's going to be great.
Speaker #0
I'm excited.
Speaker #1
Ready?
Speaker #0
You ready? What are you ready for?
Speaker #1
Well, to do this, honestly, to do this committed heart thing, because I do believe this is going to change some marriages I'm talking about all over the world. If they listen to this. the change starts immediately.
Speaker #0
Yeah, so today was just about introduction. Today was like kind of giving them a little piece of who we are and what we're going to do. But when we come back on the next podcast, we'll have specific topics that we're going to talk about and discover and just kind of go through some things. But one of the things we want to make sure that we do is give you some practical tips. Right? So You've already been listening to us today. You say, I don't know if I like them. Oh, I do like them, right? You're going to make a decision whether you're going to listen to this podcast ever again, right? Because there's so much out there. We understand that you have choices. You have options. But I say to you, this is a great choice. Committed heart.
Speaker #1
Committed heart.
Speaker #0
I'm Donna Porter.
Speaker #1
I'm William Porter, and we approve this message.
Speaker #0
Yes, we do.
Speaker #1
Yes, we do.
Speaker #0
We approve this message. Stay tuned. Stay with us. You won't regret it. Your hearts should be committed.

Chapters

Introduction to COMMITTED HEARTS Podcast
12sec
The Importance of Commitment in Marriage
1min
Grounding Marriage in Biblical Principles
3min
Sharing Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned
5min
Looking Forward: Future Topics and Practical Tips
21min

About COMMITTED HEARTS

You’ll hear honest conversations about communication, connection, conflict, intimacy, and spiritual growth—delivered with grace, humor, and zero judgment.

Whether you're newly engaged or decades into marriage, Committed Hearts will encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow together emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

Because great marriages aren’t found—they’re intentionally built, one committed heart at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About COMMITTED HEARTS

You’ll hear honest conversations about communication, connection, conflict, intimacy, and spiritual growth—delivered with grace, humor, and zero judgment.

Whether you're newly engaged or decades into marriage, Committed Hearts will encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow together emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

Because great marriages aren’t found—they’re intentionally built, one committed heart at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Embed

Description

We open up about:

The unexpected parts of our love story
Seasons that stretched us and seasons that strengthened us
How we learned to communicate, forgive, and grow together
Why we believe God-centered relationships don’t have to be complicated
What Committed Hearts will bring you each week—practical tools, honest conversations, and encouragement you can apply right away

Whether you’re dating, engaged, newly married, or decades in, this episode sets the tone for the journey we’ll be taking together: authentic, relational, faith-aware, and deeply practical.

Join us as we share where it all began—and how you can build (or rebuild) a marriage that lasts.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
to committed hearts podcast and we are the porters william porter and i'm donna porter and we are so excited to be with you today we are launching this new podcast yes yes committed heart committed hearts Um, I said to you this morning, we were talking about it. I was like, I feel like we should launch with prayer and let's at least launch with prayer. So father, we just thank you right now for this podcast and we give it to you as an offering. And we trust you that you are going to reach the people that need to be reached. And so we say that we will say what needs to be said and they will hear what needs to be heard. And we thank you for that now. in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So I'm excited about this podcast. What about you?
Speaker #1
I'm very excited.
Speaker #0
So today we're going to introduce ourselves and we just been talking about it and really getting excited about, you know, what we get to do because we get to do this. Why do we even want to do a podcast?
Speaker #1
We have some information that would help people. I do believe we have information that could really make the foundation of marriage even stronger if you have one. If you don't, we can give you input to get you there. This is really important. This is very well needed.
Speaker #0
Very well needed. And so are we experts?
Speaker #1
Well, I'll tell you this. They do say if you did something longevity of 10 years or better, you can consider yourself as an expert. I believe we've been doing this 27 years. We are experts. But now we may not be experts for everybody. So we are experts. Ten years of anything, longevity, you'll consider.
Speaker #0
And we've got a lot more than ten years involved.
Speaker #1
So we are experts.
Speaker #0
Yeah. We've been friends over 45 years, right? So I was 14 and you were 16. 16,
Speaker #1
yes.
Speaker #0
And you are my boyfriend.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
And you still are.
Speaker #1
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker #0
And you still are. And so we're very excited, too. We're going to get a chance to share our lives. And, you know, I was researching about podcasts and we know we watch some podcasts. We watch marriage podcasts and there's some something for everyone. Absolutely. Right. And so I was researching and just looking at what what makes a great podcast. And one of the things that came in my heart is authenticity. And so I know that we are very authentic. We will laugh. We will cry. We will have fun. We will be transparent. We're going to tell on ourselves. I get to tell on you.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
You don't get to tell on me, but I get to tell on you.
Speaker #1
You know I have nothing to tell on you.
Speaker #0
You have nothing to tell on me. Okay. All right. He's going to repent, and then we're going to move forward. But we're going to have a great time just getting to share with the people. I feel like we've had some experiences that will be helpful to people's lives. One of the things I do know is that there is a bait for every kind of fish.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
Right. So we may be your bait. Right. We may be the one who assigned to speak into your life. And so we're very excited to do that. Matter of fact, we're not just excited. We're committed.
Speaker #1
But two things have to happen. Now, you know, if you if you're fishing and you put something on the bait, a bait on the hook, that fish may not want to be caught. He want to steal what's on your hook and move forward. But in this you need to that need to reverse. You want to be caught with the bait we given so that you're. Marriage can become even stronger. You can become recommit if you need to become committed. Commitment means you do it no matter what, whether you feel like it. If it's not going your way, it's not the best day. I'm going to commit no matter what comes up. We are committed to the cause.
Speaker #0
And I love this, which is part of why we chose committed hearts, because you need to be sold out. You need to be like, you know what? We're going to do this and we're going to do whatever it takes so that we can do this. I know one of the things that you and I talked about, like when we were first dating, first deciding to get married and everything, I was like, look, I don't just want to be married.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
I want to have a great marriage. That's right. And so and we're committed to that. Committed to that. And so we're going to get a chance to share with people some very practical things that can be done. To ensure that you have a great marriage.
Speaker #1
And there's certain things we say, we put into play. We say, we have a great marriage, but we believe it can be better.
Speaker #0
Absolutely.
Speaker #1
So we commit it to that, to whatever it takes for it to be better. That's what we do. We never get...
Speaker #0
to a place where okay it's good now we just float no we said we expecting a better a great marriage but we expect it to get better so we have to work towards that that's where the commitment comes that's where the commitment comes in and so if you're watching us and you're like well i'm just gonna check this out because uh you may say we need some help hey guess what we needed help too right and so There are some principles. Now, the things that we're going to share with you, they're going to be ground in biblical principles. And but it's not going to come off like all real religious or anything. But God's word will be the foundation of things that we talk about and that we share about. And it may not be scripture, but it will be God's principles and God's principles work because marriage is God's idea.
Speaker #1
And honestly, I don't I don't see how the commitment could be carried through. If you don't follow biblical teachings or some things have to be there, any successful businessman, whether he say it or not, he practiced biblical principles in order for it to become strong. So in a marriage, we have to practice some of the traits so that our character will change. If we don't, we don't do that. What character do we have to follow?
Speaker #0
So in order to be really committed to one another. We suggest that you are committed to God and committed to his word. And if you're committed to God and his word, it's going to work.
Speaker #1
And if you're not, just stick around long enough. This will bring change. Then you do whatever you need to do to commit to your marriage.
Speaker #0
Absolutely. And so there is hope for you. There's hope no matter what's going on in your relationship, no matter whether he wants to or I don't want to. And none of that matters if you commit. to the principles of God's word, it will work for you.
Speaker #1
And see that the key to this is, let's say this, a lot of times you really only know what you've seen in a marriage. So a lot of things in the marriage, if it was not done right, that's all you know. So if you don't come with the expectation of being committed to something new, you won't do nothing new because what you see is all you know. So if that's all you know, then you lock yourself out for new things on new goals. So what happens is we, a lot of times we're dealing with things in our marriage based off what we've seen. But the only marriage you probably know is your parents. And if your parents are not married, it could be your grandparents, whoever was in your life. That's the marriage you've seen. Well, if that's all you've seen, I mean, that's all you know. So if you want new things, you got to open yourself up and commit to what you hear and then apply it in your life.
Speaker #0
Well, I'm excited because I know that if people will watch. Stay connected. Stay committed to this commitment, right? Because it's a commitment. Stay committed and watch it work for your life. Things can change, man. I trust that things can change for your marriage. It'll get better and better, greater. Yes, Lord. Absolutely. Talk about our relationship. So we already said I was 14, you were 16. And we were doing things that our parents didn't want us to do and that God wouldn't want us to do. But we were doing things. But we were doing them. We were doing things. And because we were doing things, our parents said, y'all going to stop doing things. Yes. Matter of fact, y'all not even going to see each other no more.
Speaker #1
We was practicing marriage when we was dating. Then marry us. Things that married people did.
Speaker #0
Right. And so they had us stop seeing each other. And you went into the military, and we kind of moved on with our lives. Yes. But we were always friends. That's right. We were always friends. That's right. I'll never forget, your mom actually said, if it takes 20 years, if it was meant to be, even if it takes 20 years, we would come back together. We would come back together.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
And it was actually 20 years exactly that you found me.
Speaker #1
I found you. That's right.
Speaker #0
You found me.
Speaker #1
I would say who finds a wife finds a good thing. So I just need to be patient. I found my wife and it's a good thing.
Speaker #0
You found me. So let's share with people a little bit. There's several things that we are able to help people with. First of all, we've both been divorced before.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
Right. So we have that experience. Right. We don't advertise that as something wonderful. But it's going to be helpful for some of you. That's right. You're like, this may be my second marriage, and I don't really understand. I don't know how to do this again. But we have some experience with that. And not only that, we both have a lot of experience. both had children when we got together so we have some blended uh family experience so if you're out there and you're watching he was like yeah but how do you do this you know he's got kids i got kids we trying to come together oh man we got some experience with blending yes i just go with blending we have some experience with that as well and so um there are so many different areas of marriage and I think that we would be able to help.
Speaker #1
Well, really, any area of marriage, we can help them. I mean, after 27 years, we're still experiencing, we're still learning. But I think that's a lot, we know. Once again, any time in 10 years, you're an expert at this. So whether they believe that or not, just the longevity.
Speaker #0
I don't think longevity is enough because we talk about this, that there are people who have been married a long time, but they don't have good marriages.
Speaker #1
Right. But with the longevity, at least you're there to get it right. And if you watch this, whether you've been married 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, it will rekindle the commitment that you're in, which will make that marriage great. And it becomes better because now you're open to new things. So as long as you're there and committed to changing things, to watch things to be different, then you can have 40 years. It's longevity because you're still there, but it can get great. Why? Because you're watching something new and you apply it. We done done this with people. That's been my 60 years. And listen, they rekindled like as if it was brand new.
Speaker #0
But that was the key. They heard the principles and they applied.
Speaker #1
Listen.
Speaker #0
So it's not just being there. You've got to hear the principles. You have to apply the principles. And so we're going to have a great time over all of these podcasts sharing principles and that people can actually apply. We love practical applications. And so we're going to talk about those kind of things. So I want to, you know, I call you boo sometimes, big daddy other times.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
I love them. I told you that. It does something to me. Okay. So we're going to talk about, you know, we found me. Well, you found me.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
You found me. You found me. I was going home to New Jersey for the very first time. And I had four children at the time. Right. And so my children and I, we're on our way home to New Jersey. And I'm staying at my parents' house, and I have a dream that night. And I wake up the next morning, and I tell my family, I had a dream of an old boyfriend, and he kissed me. And my son said, I'm buying that. They didn't want me to ever be hurt again. And so, and you were the old boyfriend in my dream. And so it's Thanksgiving weekend. And here we are. I'm in New Jersey. I had not seen you. Like, we had not been communicating. I had not seen you. And so in years, at least 20, maybe something like that. And so anyway, my mom and I, my mom, not my mom and I, my mom wants to go to Walmart Black Friday. And so I was like, man, I don't really want to go. to Walmart, but I'm going to go and be with my mom. Now you guys know back in the day, you was at Black Friday, you was out there at 5.30, 6 o'clock in the morning when that store opened, you are in that line. And so my mom and I, we go into Walmart. And so here we are in Walmart. My mom's in one part of the store. I'm over near the jewelry counter.
Speaker #1
And here is this man,
Speaker #0
The boyfriend that I saw the night before. is now standing by the jewelry counter talking to me, right? And what did you say when you saw me?
Speaker #1
I said, hey, Donna, what you doing here? I don't even know your last name, but I know Donna Bowling. I said, I'm in love still with Donna Bowling. What are you doing here? Wow. And I think you told me, well, I'm here visiting for Thanksgiving. I said, well, we had a brief conversation, and I. I believe I asked, where are you staying? You said, at your mom's. I said, well, I'm going to stop by. I'm going to go by. And later on, I get my son. I said, where's the kids? Is the kids here with you? Yeah, I said, is your husband here with you? I have a husband. And I said, thank you, Lord. But no, no, no. I didn't say that. But I'm telling you what I was thinking. Well, anyway, I said, I'm going to come by and see the children. And yeah, I would like to meet them. So I went home. Well, I went and continued my shopping. I'm sure you continue yours. I came there to get my son a bike. And it's just amazing. When I got there, one bike left. Even after that conversation, you know, this Black Friday, if anyone could remember it, you had. The hurry up and get in the hustle because people are getting stuff. But that one seemed to have my name on it and no one else want to get it but mine. So I know this was a God set up.
Speaker #0
A God set up.
Speaker #1
So I picked up that bike and then I came to your mom's house. When I came to your mom's house, I believe it was you and I.
Speaker #0
You tried to kiss me.
Speaker #1
I did. I really did. And I don't know why you didn't receive it. No,
Speaker #0
because one of the kids came.
Speaker #1
I remember you right. So we couldn't get that on. But anyway, I told you, you do know. you my wife it's just amazing the way that happens it's so bold uh yeah you just told me straight you said i don't even know your your married name but i still love and you call me by my maiden name love is bold love is bold it's bold i mean if you're in love with someone you just tell them straight up it's bold now what they do with it how to receive it i mean what i mean i can't i can't uh downplay it i can't uh yeah it's bold i'm in love i'm not
Speaker #0
I love that. Love is bold. Thank you for being bold. Thank you for being.
Speaker #1
I mean, I'm so bold. Some of the stories I don't know if I would tell them, but I was so bold. I mean, you know, I was trying to communicate and really my communication was not to not to interrupt with anything. But I had really cared about you so much so that a lot of our friends would say, I seen, I seen Donna. I said, really, how was she doing? They say she's doing good. So if I was in town, I would stop by mom's and say, hey, you know, tell Donna I asked about her. But really, my concern was, is she OK? If someone says, are you OK? I'm good. But if I wasn't getting that, then my, I guess, my curiosity.
Speaker #0
Curiosity led you to find me.
Speaker #1
To find.
Speaker #0
And to find out if I was OK.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
And at that time, I really wasn't OK. But God in his goodness set us up. Yes, that's right. He set us up in Walmart.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
And, you know. So after that, I'm going back to Florida. I don't even live in New Jersey, right? And I'm going back the next day, and you called me.
Speaker #1
Called you on the way back. I said, what is my wife doing?
Speaker #0
So you called me, and you were very persistent, right? You were committed. You were very persistent, and you were calling. My son would tell you that I wasn't home.
Speaker #1
Well, let's put some on the record now. Understand, we did not pursue divorce because of you and I. That was already in the play when you and I had to connect. So we want to make sure that's on the record. Yes, so everything was a setup. I mean, this was done prior. So what we were doing after that was totally legit and legal.
Speaker #0
I love it. You actually came and we sat down with my pastor. And my pastor told me, he said, I don't really know him, but I know him by his spirit. spirit and that the Lord has sent you, not just for me, but also for my children. And so I want to encourage people that it can happen for you, too. It can happen for you, too. We're not suggesting that you get out of a relationship unless you're being physically abused or some kind of domestic abuse, something like that. But if you want your marriage and you make the commitment. It can happen for you. Now, we had a lot of things. We had a lot of things we had to learn because I was used to doing things my way. He was used to doing things his way. I was raising my children one way. He was raising his son another way. And here we come. We got to blend now. We got to blend. We got to bring all of this together. And so we're going to have so much fun sharing with you how we brought things together, things that we learn. things we even messed up on.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
Right. Things we did wrong. Right. And thank God, if you're doing some things, you're doing them wrong. It's like, this ain't working. This not working. So, hey, you will be able to hear principles that will cause you to make a shift, change some things, do some things different. And we can guarantee you that if you do what the word of God says, it'll work for you. It will work.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
It'll work. And so we're excited about the podcast because we're going to have fun. We're going to laugh. We're going to cry. We're going to do different things, share different things, and just get a chance to grow together. Are you committed? Are you committed? Right. Are you committed to your commitment? Because marriage is a commitment.
Speaker #1
And the thing is, even if it looked messy, if it don't look like you think it's going your way, you still be committed to even work through that. It will change. Commitment will bring about a change because When you're committed to something, you don't just leave or walk away because something's going your way at that time. You even got to press through that. I'm committed to this no matter what.
Speaker #0
I'm committed when you get on my nerves.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
I'm committed when I don't like you.
Speaker #1
I'm committed.
Speaker #0
I'm committed.
Speaker #1
I'm committed in all the wonderful things.
Speaker #0
In all those wonderful things. I'm committed. We're going to work through this. One of the things that we decided right from the beginning is that we don't even say divorce.
Speaker #1
No, we don't use it.
Speaker #0
We don't use that word. It's not an option for us. And so when you're really committed, that's the decision that you have to make because commitment is a decision. Right.
Speaker #1
And we will say this. We do not abuse each other. And if it's something that may even be in the arena of abuse, once we bring it to each other's attention, we change that. When we're not saying, once again, if you're being abused verbally, physically, then we don't expect you. Get away from that because that's toxic. But if it's where I'm not being that and some things may not be the way I want, just make a small adjustment and just be committed to it. Now, once again, if it's abusive, don't stay. I mean, that's your decision. But if it's not that, commit yourself to work through it and you will see.
Speaker #0
It's actually better today than it's ever been.
Speaker #1
It gets better and better.
Speaker #0
It gets better and better.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day. And so I'm excited because we're going to get a chance to share principles that we learned and that we are still learning. Amen. And still putting into play today.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
And we're seeing them work.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
Big daddy.
Speaker #1
And we're still practicing them.
Speaker #0
Still.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day.
Speaker #1
Why? We're great, but we wanted to get better.
Speaker #0
We wanted to get greater. greater greater greater greater why because we are committed to the cause all right so committed hearts are you committed are you committed to your marriage like right now you was like i don't know i don't know about this i don't even know who y'all are you know i just decided i'm just gonna check y'all out for a few minutes hey uh go ahead and make a decision to commit that's the good thing about this
Speaker #1
Oh, you don't know who we are. We don't know who you are, but we do know if this can help you, if we can create a relationship to where not only does this, once again, commit your marriage to a good foundation, but it commits our marriage to a good foundation because we help someone like someone helped us. So we have to share what we know. But once we don't know you, you don't know us. But trust us. We trust you. We're still listening to the change your life if you apply.
Speaker #0
Because one day we were in somebody's office.
Speaker #1
Yes, we were. Many a times.
Speaker #0
Many a times. Many a times. Yes, we were. Asking for help or seeking help, that's wisdom.
Speaker #1
Wisdom.
Speaker #0
Right? When you're committed to the relationship, you do what you need to do so that things can get better. And it's okay. It's okay. And so I thank God that we... We didn't allow pride or shame to keep us from hearing the instructions that we needed to hear so that we could be better. Hey, we wouldn't be here.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
28 years later, if we hadn't listened to some principles that were taught to us. Amen. And I'm so grateful. And our children are grateful.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
And our grandchildren are grateful. Yes. Right. So we have six children together. And we are empty nesters. Yes, we are. We are empty nesters, and we have 12 grandchildren and two more on the way. And so we are so excited. We are G-Ma and Papa. And so we're living a great life right now. We are both called to the ministry.
Speaker #1
Yes, we are.
Speaker #0
And marriage is a ministry.
Speaker #1
Yes, it is.
Speaker #0
And it's my first ministry. That's right. It's my first ministry. And so no matter what you have going on in your life. Commit to your marriage. Commit to your relationship. Commit to each other. And watch what God is going to do in your house. It's going to be good.
Speaker #1
It's going to be great.
Speaker #0
I'm excited.
Speaker #1
Ready?
Speaker #0
You ready? What are you ready for?
Speaker #1
Well, to do this, honestly, to do this committed heart thing, because I do believe this is going to change some marriages I'm talking about all over the world. If they listen to this. the change starts immediately.
Speaker #0
Yeah, so today was just about introduction. Today was like kind of giving them a little piece of who we are and what we're going to do. But when we come back on the next podcast, we'll have specific topics that we're going to talk about and discover and just kind of go through some things. But one of the things we want to make sure that we do is give you some practical tips. Right? So You've already been listening to us today. You say, I don't know if I like them. Oh, I do like them, right? You're going to make a decision whether you're going to listen to this podcast ever again, right? Because there's so much out there. We understand that you have choices. You have options. But I say to you, this is a great choice. Committed heart.
Speaker #1
Committed heart.
Speaker #0
I'm Donna Porter.
Speaker #1
I'm William Porter, and we approve this message.
Speaker #0
Yes, we do.
Speaker #1
Yes, we do.
Speaker #0
We approve this message. Stay tuned. Stay with us. You won't regret it. Your hearts should be committed.

Chapters

Introduction to COMMITTED HEARTS Podcast
12sec
The Importance of Commitment in Marriage
1min
Grounding Marriage in Biblical Principles
3min
Sharing Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned
5min
Looking Forward: Future Topics and Practical Tips
21min

About COMMITTED HEARTS

You’ll hear honest conversations about communication, connection, conflict, intimacy, and spiritual growth—delivered with grace, humor, and zero judgment.

Whether you're newly engaged or decades into marriage, Committed Hearts will encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow together emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

Because great marriages aren’t found—they’re intentionally built, one committed heart at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About COMMITTED HEARTS

You’ll hear honest conversations about communication, connection, conflict, intimacy, and spiritual growth—delivered with grace, humor, and zero judgment.

Whether you're newly engaged or decades into marriage, Committed Hearts will encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow together emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

Because great marriages aren’t found—they’re intentionally built, one committed heart at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

We open up about:

The unexpected parts of our love story
Seasons that stretched us and seasons that strengthened us
How we learned to communicate, forgive, and grow together
Why we believe God-centered relationships don’t have to be complicated
What Committed Hearts will bring you each week—practical tools, honest conversations, and encouragement you can apply right away

Whether you’re dating, engaged, newly married, or decades in, this episode sets the tone for the journey we’ll be taking together: authentic, relational, faith-aware, and deeply practical.

Join us as we share where it all began—and how you can build (or rebuild) a marriage that lasts.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
to committed hearts podcast and we are the porters william porter and i'm donna porter and we are so excited to be with you today we are launching this new podcast yes yes committed heart committed hearts Um, I said to you this morning, we were talking about it. I was like, I feel like we should launch with prayer and let's at least launch with prayer. So father, we just thank you right now for this podcast and we give it to you as an offering. And we trust you that you are going to reach the people that need to be reached. And so we say that we will say what needs to be said and they will hear what needs to be heard. And we thank you for that now. in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So I'm excited about this podcast. What about you?
Speaker #1
I'm very excited.
Speaker #0
So today we're going to introduce ourselves and we just been talking about it and really getting excited about, you know, what we get to do because we get to do this. Why do we even want to do a podcast?
Speaker #1
We have some information that would help people. I do believe we have information that could really make the foundation of marriage even stronger if you have one. If you don't, we can give you input to get you there. This is really important. This is very well needed.
Speaker #0
Very well needed. And so are we experts?
Speaker #1
Well, I'll tell you this. They do say if you did something longevity of 10 years or better, you can consider yourself as an expert. I believe we've been doing this 27 years. We are experts. But now we may not be experts for everybody. So we are experts. Ten years of anything, longevity, you'll consider.
Speaker #0
And we've got a lot more than ten years involved.
Speaker #1
So we are experts.
Speaker #0
Yeah. We've been friends over 45 years, right? So I was 14 and you were 16. 16,
Speaker #1
yes.
Speaker #0
And you are my boyfriend.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
And you still are.
Speaker #1
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker #0
And you still are. And so we're very excited, too. We're going to get a chance to share our lives. And, you know, I was researching about podcasts and we know we watch some podcasts. We watch marriage podcasts and there's some something for everyone. Absolutely. Right. And so I was researching and just looking at what what makes a great podcast. And one of the things that came in my heart is authenticity. And so I know that we are very authentic. We will laugh. We will cry. We will have fun. We will be transparent. We're going to tell on ourselves. I get to tell on you.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
You don't get to tell on me, but I get to tell on you.
Speaker #1
You know I have nothing to tell on you.
Speaker #0
You have nothing to tell on me. Okay. All right. He's going to repent, and then we're going to move forward. But we're going to have a great time just getting to share with the people. I feel like we've had some experiences that will be helpful to people's lives. One of the things I do know is that there is a bait for every kind of fish.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
Right. So we may be your bait. Right. We may be the one who assigned to speak into your life. And so we're very excited to do that. Matter of fact, we're not just excited. We're committed.
Speaker #1
But two things have to happen. Now, you know, if you if you're fishing and you put something on the bait, a bait on the hook, that fish may not want to be caught. He want to steal what's on your hook and move forward. But in this you need to that need to reverse. You want to be caught with the bait we given so that you're. Marriage can become even stronger. You can become recommit if you need to become committed. Commitment means you do it no matter what, whether you feel like it. If it's not going your way, it's not the best day. I'm going to commit no matter what comes up. We are committed to the cause.
Speaker #0
And I love this, which is part of why we chose committed hearts, because you need to be sold out. You need to be like, you know what? We're going to do this and we're going to do whatever it takes so that we can do this. I know one of the things that you and I talked about, like when we were first dating, first deciding to get married and everything, I was like, look, I don't just want to be married.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
I want to have a great marriage. That's right. And so and we're committed to that. Committed to that. And so we're going to get a chance to share with people some very practical things that can be done. To ensure that you have a great marriage.
Speaker #1
And there's certain things we say, we put into play. We say, we have a great marriage, but we believe it can be better.
Speaker #0
Absolutely.
Speaker #1
So we commit it to that, to whatever it takes for it to be better. That's what we do. We never get...
Speaker #0
to a place where okay it's good now we just float no we said we expecting a better a great marriage but we expect it to get better so we have to work towards that that's where the commitment comes that's where the commitment comes in and so if you're watching us and you're like well i'm just gonna check this out because uh you may say we need some help hey guess what we needed help too right and so There are some principles. Now, the things that we're going to share with you, they're going to be ground in biblical principles. And but it's not going to come off like all real religious or anything. But God's word will be the foundation of things that we talk about and that we share about. And it may not be scripture, but it will be God's principles and God's principles work because marriage is God's idea.
Speaker #1
And honestly, I don't I don't see how the commitment could be carried through. If you don't follow biblical teachings or some things have to be there, any successful businessman, whether he say it or not, he practiced biblical principles in order for it to become strong. So in a marriage, we have to practice some of the traits so that our character will change. If we don't, we don't do that. What character do we have to follow?
Speaker #0
So in order to be really committed to one another. We suggest that you are committed to God and committed to his word. And if you're committed to God and his word, it's going to work.
Speaker #1
And if you're not, just stick around long enough. This will bring change. Then you do whatever you need to do to commit to your marriage.
Speaker #0
Absolutely. And so there is hope for you. There's hope no matter what's going on in your relationship, no matter whether he wants to or I don't want to. And none of that matters if you commit. to the principles of God's word, it will work for you.
Speaker #1
And see that the key to this is, let's say this, a lot of times you really only know what you've seen in a marriage. So a lot of things in the marriage, if it was not done right, that's all you know. So if you don't come with the expectation of being committed to something new, you won't do nothing new because what you see is all you know. So if that's all you know, then you lock yourself out for new things on new goals. So what happens is we, a lot of times we're dealing with things in our marriage based off what we've seen. But the only marriage you probably know is your parents. And if your parents are not married, it could be your grandparents, whoever was in your life. That's the marriage you've seen. Well, if that's all you've seen, I mean, that's all you know. So if you want new things, you got to open yourself up and commit to what you hear and then apply it in your life.
Speaker #0
Well, I'm excited because I know that if people will watch. Stay connected. Stay committed to this commitment, right? Because it's a commitment. Stay committed and watch it work for your life. Things can change, man. I trust that things can change for your marriage. It'll get better and better, greater. Yes, Lord. Absolutely. Talk about our relationship. So we already said I was 14, you were 16. And we were doing things that our parents didn't want us to do and that God wouldn't want us to do. But we were doing things. But we were doing them. We were doing things. And because we were doing things, our parents said, y'all going to stop doing things. Yes. Matter of fact, y'all not even going to see each other no more.
Speaker #1
We was practicing marriage when we was dating. Then marry us. Things that married people did.
Speaker #0
Right. And so they had us stop seeing each other. And you went into the military, and we kind of moved on with our lives. Yes. But we were always friends. That's right. We were always friends. That's right. I'll never forget, your mom actually said, if it takes 20 years, if it was meant to be, even if it takes 20 years, we would come back together. We would come back together.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
And it was actually 20 years exactly that you found me.
Speaker #1
I found you. That's right.
Speaker #0
You found me.
Speaker #1
I would say who finds a wife finds a good thing. So I just need to be patient. I found my wife and it's a good thing.
Speaker #0
You found me. So let's share with people a little bit. There's several things that we are able to help people with. First of all, we've both been divorced before.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
Right. So we have that experience. Right. We don't advertise that as something wonderful. But it's going to be helpful for some of you. That's right. You're like, this may be my second marriage, and I don't really understand. I don't know how to do this again. But we have some experience with that. And not only that, we both have a lot of experience. both had children when we got together so we have some blended uh family experience so if you're out there and you're watching he was like yeah but how do you do this you know he's got kids i got kids we trying to come together oh man we got some experience with blending yes i just go with blending we have some experience with that as well and so um there are so many different areas of marriage and I think that we would be able to help.
Speaker #1
Well, really, any area of marriage, we can help them. I mean, after 27 years, we're still experiencing, we're still learning. But I think that's a lot, we know. Once again, any time in 10 years, you're an expert at this. So whether they believe that or not, just the longevity.
Speaker #0
I don't think longevity is enough because we talk about this, that there are people who have been married a long time, but they don't have good marriages.
Speaker #1
Right. But with the longevity, at least you're there to get it right. And if you watch this, whether you've been married 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, it will rekindle the commitment that you're in, which will make that marriage great. And it becomes better because now you're open to new things. So as long as you're there and committed to changing things, to watch things to be different, then you can have 40 years. It's longevity because you're still there, but it can get great. Why? Because you're watching something new and you apply it. We done done this with people. That's been my 60 years. And listen, they rekindled like as if it was brand new.
Speaker #0
But that was the key. They heard the principles and they applied.
Speaker #1
Listen.
Speaker #0
So it's not just being there. You've got to hear the principles. You have to apply the principles. And so we're going to have a great time over all of these podcasts sharing principles and that people can actually apply. We love practical applications. And so we're going to talk about those kind of things. So I want to, you know, I call you boo sometimes, big daddy other times.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
I love them. I told you that. It does something to me. Okay. So we're going to talk about, you know, we found me. Well, you found me.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
You found me. You found me. I was going home to New Jersey for the very first time. And I had four children at the time. Right. And so my children and I, we're on our way home to New Jersey. And I'm staying at my parents' house, and I have a dream that night. And I wake up the next morning, and I tell my family, I had a dream of an old boyfriend, and he kissed me. And my son said, I'm buying that. They didn't want me to ever be hurt again. And so, and you were the old boyfriend in my dream. And so it's Thanksgiving weekend. And here we are. I'm in New Jersey. I had not seen you. Like, we had not been communicating. I had not seen you. And so in years, at least 20, maybe something like that. And so anyway, my mom and I, my mom, not my mom and I, my mom wants to go to Walmart Black Friday. And so I was like, man, I don't really want to go. to Walmart, but I'm going to go and be with my mom. Now you guys know back in the day, you was at Black Friday, you was out there at 5.30, 6 o'clock in the morning when that store opened, you are in that line. And so my mom and I, we go into Walmart. And so here we are in Walmart. My mom's in one part of the store. I'm over near the jewelry counter.
Speaker #1
And here is this man,
Speaker #0
The boyfriend that I saw the night before. is now standing by the jewelry counter talking to me, right? And what did you say when you saw me?
Speaker #1
I said, hey, Donna, what you doing here? I don't even know your last name, but I know Donna Bowling. I said, I'm in love still with Donna Bowling. What are you doing here? Wow. And I think you told me, well, I'm here visiting for Thanksgiving. I said, well, we had a brief conversation, and I. I believe I asked, where are you staying? You said, at your mom's. I said, well, I'm going to stop by. I'm going to go by. And later on, I get my son. I said, where's the kids? Is the kids here with you? Yeah, I said, is your husband here with you? I have a husband. And I said, thank you, Lord. But no, no, no. I didn't say that. But I'm telling you what I was thinking. Well, anyway, I said, I'm going to come by and see the children. And yeah, I would like to meet them. So I went home. Well, I went and continued my shopping. I'm sure you continue yours. I came there to get my son a bike. And it's just amazing. When I got there, one bike left. Even after that conversation, you know, this Black Friday, if anyone could remember it, you had. The hurry up and get in the hustle because people are getting stuff. But that one seemed to have my name on it and no one else want to get it but mine. So I know this was a God set up.
Speaker #0
A God set up.
Speaker #1
So I picked up that bike and then I came to your mom's house. When I came to your mom's house, I believe it was you and I.
Speaker #0
You tried to kiss me.
Speaker #1
I did. I really did. And I don't know why you didn't receive it. No,
Speaker #0
because one of the kids came.
Speaker #1
I remember you right. So we couldn't get that on. But anyway, I told you, you do know. you my wife it's just amazing the way that happens it's so bold uh yeah you just told me straight you said i don't even know your your married name but i still love and you call me by my maiden name love is bold love is bold it's bold i mean if you're in love with someone you just tell them straight up it's bold now what they do with it how to receive it i mean what i mean i can't i can't uh downplay it i can't uh yeah it's bold i'm in love i'm not
Speaker #0
I love that. Love is bold. Thank you for being bold. Thank you for being.
Speaker #1
I mean, I'm so bold. Some of the stories I don't know if I would tell them, but I was so bold. I mean, you know, I was trying to communicate and really my communication was not to not to interrupt with anything. But I had really cared about you so much so that a lot of our friends would say, I seen, I seen Donna. I said, really, how was she doing? They say she's doing good. So if I was in town, I would stop by mom's and say, hey, you know, tell Donna I asked about her. But really, my concern was, is she OK? If someone says, are you OK? I'm good. But if I wasn't getting that, then my, I guess, my curiosity.
Speaker #0
Curiosity led you to find me.
Speaker #1
To find.
Speaker #0
And to find out if I was OK.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
And at that time, I really wasn't OK. But God in his goodness set us up. Yes, that's right. He set us up in Walmart.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
And, you know. So after that, I'm going back to Florida. I don't even live in New Jersey, right? And I'm going back the next day, and you called me.
Speaker #1
Called you on the way back. I said, what is my wife doing?
Speaker #0
So you called me, and you were very persistent, right? You were committed. You were very persistent, and you were calling. My son would tell you that I wasn't home.
Speaker #1
Well, let's put some on the record now. Understand, we did not pursue divorce because of you and I. That was already in the play when you and I had to connect. So we want to make sure that's on the record. Yes, so everything was a setup. I mean, this was done prior. So what we were doing after that was totally legit and legal.
Speaker #0
I love it. You actually came and we sat down with my pastor. And my pastor told me, he said, I don't really know him, but I know him by his spirit. spirit and that the Lord has sent you, not just for me, but also for my children. And so I want to encourage people that it can happen for you, too. It can happen for you, too. We're not suggesting that you get out of a relationship unless you're being physically abused or some kind of domestic abuse, something like that. But if you want your marriage and you make the commitment. It can happen for you. Now, we had a lot of things. We had a lot of things we had to learn because I was used to doing things my way. He was used to doing things his way. I was raising my children one way. He was raising his son another way. And here we come. We got to blend now. We got to blend. We got to bring all of this together. And so we're going to have so much fun sharing with you how we brought things together, things that we learn. things we even messed up on.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
Right. Things we did wrong. Right. And thank God, if you're doing some things, you're doing them wrong. It's like, this ain't working. This not working. So, hey, you will be able to hear principles that will cause you to make a shift, change some things, do some things different. And we can guarantee you that if you do what the word of God says, it'll work for you. It will work.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
It'll work. And so we're excited about the podcast because we're going to have fun. We're going to laugh. We're going to cry. We're going to do different things, share different things, and just get a chance to grow together. Are you committed? Are you committed? Right. Are you committed to your commitment? Because marriage is a commitment.
Speaker #1
And the thing is, even if it looked messy, if it don't look like you think it's going your way, you still be committed to even work through that. It will change. Commitment will bring about a change because When you're committed to something, you don't just leave or walk away because something's going your way at that time. You even got to press through that. I'm committed to this no matter what.
Speaker #0
I'm committed when you get on my nerves.
Speaker #1
Absolutely.
Speaker #0
I'm committed when I don't like you.
Speaker #1
I'm committed.
Speaker #0
I'm committed.
Speaker #1
I'm committed in all the wonderful things.
Speaker #0
In all those wonderful things. I'm committed. We're going to work through this. One of the things that we decided right from the beginning is that we don't even say divorce.
Speaker #1
No, we don't use it.
Speaker #0
We don't use that word. It's not an option for us. And so when you're really committed, that's the decision that you have to make because commitment is a decision. Right.
Speaker #1
And we will say this. We do not abuse each other. And if it's something that may even be in the arena of abuse, once we bring it to each other's attention, we change that. When we're not saying, once again, if you're being abused verbally, physically, then we don't expect you. Get away from that because that's toxic. But if it's where I'm not being that and some things may not be the way I want, just make a small adjustment and just be committed to it. Now, once again, if it's abusive, don't stay. I mean, that's your decision. But if it's not that, commit yourself to work through it and you will see.
Speaker #0
It's actually better today than it's ever been.
Speaker #1
It gets better and better.
Speaker #0
It gets better and better.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day. And so I'm excited because we're going to get a chance to share principles that we learned and that we are still learning. Amen. And still putting into play today.
Speaker #1
Amen.
Speaker #0
And we're seeing them work.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
Big daddy.
Speaker #1
And we're still practicing them.
Speaker #0
Still.
Speaker #1
Every day.
Speaker #0
Every day.
Speaker #1
Why? We're great, but we wanted to get better.
Speaker #0
We wanted to get greater. greater greater greater greater why because we are committed to the cause all right so committed hearts are you committed are you committed to your marriage like right now you was like i don't know i don't know about this i don't even know who y'all are you know i just decided i'm just gonna check y'all out for a few minutes hey uh go ahead and make a decision to commit that's the good thing about this
Speaker #1
Oh, you don't know who we are. We don't know who you are, but we do know if this can help you, if we can create a relationship to where not only does this, once again, commit your marriage to a good foundation, but it commits our marriage to a good foundation because we help someone like someone helped us. So we have to share what we know. But once we don't know you, you don't know us. But trust us. We trust you. We're still listening to the change your life if you apply.
Speaker #0
Because one day we were in somebody's office.
Speaker #1
Yes, we were. Many a times.
Speaker #0
Many a times. Many a times. Yes, we were. Asking for help or seeking help, that's wisdom.
Speaker #1
Wisdom.
Speaker #0
Right? When you're committed to the relationship, you do what you need to do so that things can get better. And it's okay. It's okay. And so I thank God that we... We didn't allow pride or shame to keep us from hearing the instructions that we needed to hear so that we could be better. Hey, we wouldn't be here.
Speaker #1
That's right.
Speaker #0
28 years later, if we hadn't listened to some principles that were taught to us. Amen. And I'm so grateful. And our children are grateful.
Speaker #1
Yes.
Speaker #0
And our grandchildren are grateful. Yes. Right. So we have six children together. And we are empty nesters. Yes, we are. We are empty nesters, and we have 12 grandchildren and two more on the way. And so we are so excited. We are G-Ma and Papa. And so we're living a great life right now. We are both called to the ministry.
Speaker #1
Yes, we are.
Speaker #0
And marriage is a ministry.
Speaker #1
Yes, it is.
Speaker #0
And it's my first ministry. That's right. It's my first ministry. And so no matter what you have going on in your life. Commit to your marriage. Commit to your relationship. Commit to each other. And watch what God is going to do in your house. It's going to be good.
Speaker #1
It's going to be great.
Speaker #0
I'm excited.
Speaker #1
Ready?
Speaker #0
You ready? What are you ready for?
Speaker #1
Well, to do this, honestly, to do this committed heart thing, because I do believe this is going to change some marriages I'm talking about all over the world. If they listen to this. the change starts immediately.
Speaker #0
Yeah, so today was just about introduction. Today was like kind of giving them a little piece of who we are and what we're going to do. But when we come back on the next podcast, we'll have specific topics that we're going to talk about and discover and just kind of go through some things. But one of the things we want to make sure that we do is give you some practical tips. Right? So You've already been listening to us today. You say, I don't know if I like them. Oh, I do like them, right? You're going to make a decision whether you're going to listen to this podcast ever again, right? Because there's so much out there. We understand that you have choices. You have options. But I say to you, this is a great choice. Committed heart.
Speaker #1
Committed heart.
Speaker #0
I'm Donna Porter.
Speaker #1
I'm William Porter, and we approve this message.
Speaker #0
Yes, we do.
Speaker #1
Yes, we do.
Speaker #0
We approve this message. Stay tuned. Stay with us. You won't regret it. Your hearts should be committed.

Chapters

Introduction to COMMITTED HEARTS Podcast
12sec
The Importance of Commitment in Marriage
1min
Grounding Marriage in Biblical Principles
3min
Sharing Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned
5min
Looking Forward: Future Topics and Practical Tips
21min

About COMMITTED HEARTS

You’ll hear honest conversations about communication, connection, conflict, intimacy, and spiritual growth—delivered with grace, humor, and zero judgment.

Whether you're newly engaged or decades into marriage, Committed Hearts will encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow together emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

Because great marriages aren’t found—they’re intentionally built, one committed heart at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About COMMITTED HEARTS

You’ll hear honest conversations about communication, connection, conflict, intimacy, and spiritual growth—delivered with grace, humor, and zero judgment.

Whether you're newly engaged or decades into marriage, Committed Hearts will encourage you, challenge you, and help you grow together emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

Because great marriages aren’t found—they’re intentionally built, one committed heart at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Embed

Chapters

Introduction to COMMITTED HEARTS Podcast

The Importance of Commitment in Marriage

Grounding Marriage in Biblical Principles

Sharing Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned

Looking Forward: Future Topics and Practical Tips

Chapters

Introduction to COMMITTED HEARTS Podcast

The Importance of Commitment in Marriage

Grounding Marriage in Biblical Principles

Sharing Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned

Looking Forward: Future Topics and Practical Tips

Chapters

Introduction to COMMITTED HEARTS Podcast

The Importance of Commitment in Marriage

Grounding Marriage in Biblical Principles

Sharing Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned

Looking Forward: Future Topics and Practical Tips

Chapters

Introduction to COMMITTED HEARTS Podcast

The Importance of Commitment in Marriage

Grounding Marriage in Biblical Principles

Sharing Personal Experiences and Lessons Learned

Looking Forward: Future Topics and Practical Tips