What Science Reveals About Lifelong Intimacy

We explore  findings from three recent scientific studies that show how flexible expectations, strong relationships, and emotional meaning shape a lifetime of sexual satisfaction in marriage. 

• Bouchard KN, Cormier M, Huberman JS, Rosen NO. Sexual script flexibility and sexual well-being in long-term couples. Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2023. 
• Tavares IM, Rosen NO, Heiman JR, Nobre PJ. Longitudinal associations between relational and sexual well-being. Family Process. 2024. 
• Henninger W, Heinz M, Taylor N. Love, Sex & Aging. Social Sciences. 2025.

Warning: We cover necessary and important topics about the marriage relationship and sex. We use frank language without being crude or crass. Our approach is biblical and wholesome, but not intended for singles — especially not for children.

Additional info:

Ladies, make your voice and experience heard, take part in new sex research: The Lived Experience of Marital Sex: Women's Perspectives -- www.surveymonkey.com/r/QRWQPWK

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Transcript

Welcome Friends!

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey Jen, wanna talk about some new sex research?

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Your hypothesis has failed.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Right. Today on the podcast, we're talking about recent scientific research that identifies some key habits and attitudes leading to a lifetime of healthy marriage and fulfilling sex. Let's do it. Welcome, friends.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Welcome. We're Mad and Jen, and this is the Intimate Covenant Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Where we believe the Bible and great marriage sex both belong on your kitchen table. That's right. We are talking about godly marriage and hot sex and emotionally fulfilling oneness.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

And we're glad that you have joined us. If you'd like more information about us, you can look on our website at intimatecovenant.com. And we would always love to hear from you. You can email us at podcast at intimatecovenant.com.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Not surprisingly, recent science supports the fact that couples with healthy relationships have the most satisfying and most fulfilling sex lives. Anybody surprised by that? I hope not. If you've been listening to our podcast even for one episode. But today we want to look at some of this research and try to glean some takeaways about the attitudes, the practices, and the habits specifically that result in the most fulfilling marriages and the most extraordinary sex lives.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

It's gonna be a good episode. But before we get there, some quick announcements. You should already know this if you're a longtime listener of ours, but if you're new around these parts, you know that retreat registration has opened. We are um excitedly preparing for this year's marriage retreat, and the registration opened on Valentine's Day. We're gonna go on air and let you know that we had a few hiccups.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Oh, goodness me. Uh yes, there were definitely some uh problems with the website and something called plugins and something called WooCommerce. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

There was a lot happening behind the scenes that made it a little bit difficult for you to register for the retreat.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

However, it has all been worked out to the best of our knowledge.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

As far as we can tell, we are now getting retreat registrations uh coming through. The forms are being filled out, they are getting into our inbox, and payments can now be accepted. So Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

The biggest problem was you could register but not pay, which is great. We'd love to do this for free, but the hotel doesn't want to do it for free. So that that wasn't gonna work. Uh, but it's all working now. If you have tried to register for the retreat and it didn't work, try again.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Please try again. We have things fixed.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

This year's retreat is September 24th through the 26th. And you can go to intimatecovenant.com slash retreat to find out way more details about it.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Yeah, lots more details about our theme and some other exciting uh announcements. And um, yeah, please join us. It is a wonderful, wonderful weekend, and we want to see you there.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

We also want to see you at the Alabama Marriage Day. If you're in Alabama or you just want to drive to the amazing state of Alabama, we are excitedly in the works for planning that um with a great host there. And uh that is happening in April. You can find more information about the Alabama Marriage Day at intimatecovenant.com slash Alabama.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yeah, and stay tuned. Uh, some other announcements coming your way as well, some other uh marriage enrichment weekends uh in the works. So hopefully uh we'll have some more announcements uh about some of those uh coming soon.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

We're excited. We love to come and meet you and see you, and for you to come to us for the retreat. Our favorite thing.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Absolutely. Some of the best, uh one one of the best parts about doing what we do. And um, so yeah, definitely want to see you when we can have that opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

All right. So today's episode, uh, let's get into it. We're looking at research, and I know you all are just so excited. Um, Matt is just thrilled because he loves the science of all this.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

I'm chomping at the bit for this episode. And I know, but for all the rest of us, I recognize not everybody likes to read scientific journals and articles and publications.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

There are those of us who love the the people who do read that.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Oh, well, that's sweet of you.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

I love you, honey.

Invitation To Women’s Sex Research Survey

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Not everybody even loves the people that do those things. That's true. Uh I want to assure you, before you instantly turn this off, uh, we we are not going to dig into the depths and the details and the technicalities of the research. Uh we want to make this as accessible as possible. And most importantly, we want to make this relevant. So we're going to look at some principles, and I think uh we're going to find something for everyone uh in this episode. But since the episode is about research, and really one of the things that kind of inspired me to put this episode together is um we want you, as our listeners, to have the opportunity to take part in some new scientific research on uh married women's sexual experiences. Now, that does not mean that you are going to be having sex for the sake of science.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

No, no. Nor does it even mean that they're going to be asking you uh questions that you maybe just don't really want to share. Um, I want to assure all of our listeners that this is a project I have already been involved in. Um, and so I can a hundred percent recommend taking part in this survey.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

It's uh pretty much harmless, but uh the the research is being uh performed by Dr. Jessica McCleese. She is a professor at Regent University. Uh, she's also a certified Christian sex therapist, and as you might imagine, she is a researcher there at Regent University. Uh her team partnering with Jay Parker, you probably recognize Jay Parker. Uh, she's been a guest on her podcast at least once. We've been on her podcast, and Jen's been on her podcasts a number of times.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

She's been part of one of our favorite bloggers, authors, speakers with Hot Holy and Humorous. Um, so yes, Jay Parker is also a part of all of this.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Yes. They they as a group are studying married women's sexual experiences. Uh, and uh their project title is The Lived Experience of Marital Sex, Women's Perspectives. Uh, and I'll just read, just straight read uh from their website, uh, which says uh there is a lack of research regarding the sexual experiences of married women across the lifespan, which has resulted in women lacking necessary resources to create meaningful and enjoyable experiences with their spouse. We believe that every woman's voice is important and that as women share their experiences, they can learn from one another and experience the fulfilling relationship that they deserve. By participating, you will be contributing to meaningful insights that can improve awareness, resources, and future care for women. Your voice matters, and your voluntary participation can make a real difference.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

So they're looking for wives with lots of different backgrounds to just be a part of this and to take it's about a 20-minute survey. Again, it was very easy, it was very harmless, like you know, nothing hard about it. And it and very private, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yeah, of course. It is it is entirely voluntary, so you're not gonna be paid for this. Um, but uh uh it it is also you're also not going to pay to do it as well. Uh obviously, it is very confidential. This is being done at a uh research institution, and so you will uh all of your information will be kept private and confidential. Uh you must be 18 years or older uh to participate. Hopefully, most, if not all of our audience, is 18 years or older.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

That's that should be the plan. And to participate, you should be a married woman, married woman who engages in some type of sexual experience with her husband or who desires to.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Right. So you don't necessarily have to be married to take the survey. Uh, you just have to be a woman who wants to be married and who uh wishes to engage in sexual activity with her husband. Uh, I'm gonna include the survey link uh in the show notes. It is a Survey Monkey uh link, and uh that'll be available in the show notes. We would really encourage all of you to all of you who are eligible to participate uh because um, as you might imagine, we're gonna talk about some research studies today, but uh the problem with most research is that it is done entirely from very select audiences and groups. And while researchers, in for the most part, try to do a good job of getting a cross-section of the demographic they're trying to study, whether that's American women or whatever, um, I would venture to say that Christian women are highly underrepresented in widespread and reputable research studies. And so uh having your voice in these studies will go a long way towards helping uh researchers better understand uh what it is that Christian women experience and what it is that they need to help them uh develop a healthy sexual identity, to help them develop a healthy sexual relationship in their marriage.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

And and as someone who has taken the survey, I just want to go out there and also say you don't have to have a healthy sex life right now to take the survey. In fact, they need to hear voices from women who are in all walks of life right now, whatever your season looks like, whether it's great or it's struggling, could be better, the worst it's ever been, whatever that is, your voice matters in this survey in order to get a full picture of what does it look like within marriages.

Study 1: Flexibility Fuels Satisfaction

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Yeah, that's a great point. Uh in fact, some of you with unhealthy either experiences or current relationships will be able to speak very well to what the challenges are that uh Christian women face. So again, uh I'm I would ask you, uh we would ask you to take part in this survey if you have at all uh opportunity. And we'll thank you in advance for Jay Parker, our friend and uh and colleague as well. Uh so again, speaking of research.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Speaking of research.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Today we're gonna look at some recently published research articles uh that really are primarily are about married couples, uh long-term relationships, and um the their sexual well-being. Uh specifically, we're looking at three recent studies that, and if you're weird like me, you get Google alerts, Google Scholar alerts every once in a while that tell you when some new research has been published regarding long-term sexual relationships. And uh, these are some that I've just been kind of keeping in the back of my mind to um, or that that kind of made my list as some studies that had some intriguing findings, uh, things that I think are not just interesting but relevant to our audience, that is all of you who are listening. Um, but these three studies look at some different aspects of married relationships. Sometimes they're only looking at what are called long-term relationships. They don't necessarily specify married relationships, but we're gonna assume that's the same thing for the stake of uh this uh podcast. Uh, and the the dynamics in those relationships that resulted in both relational and or sexual satisfaction. So um that's what we're looking at. Three three specific studies.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Well, get into the first one, Matt. We're all anxiously awaiting.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Everybody wants to know. Okay, so this uh this first episode, or sorry, this first um article, the first uh publication is was titled Sexual Script Flexibility and Sexual Well-being in long-term couples. Um, so that's a mouthful, but I think it's relatively self-explanatory. Uh, this was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2023, so not that far ago. And um, here's a couple of the key findings. So without quoting, without digging into the depths of the research, uh, here's a couple of key findings. One of them is that flexible sexual expectations are linked with higher sexual satisfaction. So, what does that mean? Uh that means that um, in their words, individuals who reported who reported greater sexual script flexibility, let's define that first. Yeah. What is sexual script flexibility? That is uh the ability to change your expectations when you meet sexual challenges. As a couple or as an individual, if you are able to enter into a sexual experience with one set of expectations, but you are able to pivot those expectations when something doesn't uh happen exactly like you would have preferred. Uh, if that is you would be someone who has a greater sexual script flexibility. Because I mean, let's face it, we all have a script in our mind. Well, I don't know if everybody does. I'll speak for myself. Um you know, you have something in mind, right? You you have an expectation of how the night's gonna go, right? Um, and uh it it the the old adage is of course, you know, expectations are um a way to predict uh failure and disappointment. So as soon as you make plans, uh those plans are going to likely change. But uh what this what this uh study demonstrated is that those who were able to have flexibility in their sexual script were able to, or they did, report higher sexual satisfaction. And what's also interesting about this, not only did the individual with the ability to adapt have better um sexual satisfaction, their partners did also.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

So if I'm able to adjust my expectations, my partner also is going to have a better sexual experience and a better sexual relationship as well. Um is that surprising? No. Is that something that we all often, though, think about or consider? Probably not. Uh, and so you know, there there's probably some, there are some long-term implications uh about that. The second finding that was uh interesting from this study is that uh, as the author said, flexibility helps couples navigate sexual difficulties. So assuming that you have problems, that you're good that you uh might possibly, I mean, hypothetically, encounter problems in your sexual relationship, I say that tongue in cheek because uh you're going to have uh challenges and difficulties in your sex lives, uh, even if the only difficulty you experience is aging, uh listen, aging is going to affect your sex life at some point. But um if you are if you're able to be flexible, you will be much more able to navigate some of these difficulties that uh will come up. If you have very rigid expectations, uh one example that was mentioned in the article is um the expectation that sex must include intercourse.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

Oh wow, that's interesting that they mentioned that. I mean, I think if you're a listener to this podcast, you have heard us multiple times say that sex is not just intercourse. You need to broaden out your definition of of sex within your married sex life. Yeah. So so if if your expectation is that sex equals intercourse, then that can cause a whole lot more struggle. That's what the article, what I mean, what the findings were.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Absolutely. And you know, there's plenty of other possibilities like uh other things like uh which uh individual, which spouse has to initiate sex. If you're very rigid in those expectations, um you are not going to be able to adapt to changes.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Only happens in certain circumstances at certain times, right? In you know, certain ways.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Certain places, uh, certain activities have to happen, uh orgasm has to happen by one or both partners. All of those were expectations that were listed by the authors that were named specifically, although certainly not limited to those expectations, but all of those things were listed by the authors as things that presented challenges to um couples who were not willing to be flexible with their expectations.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Right. Because whereas flexible couples and having those flexible approaches allow couples to maintain intimacy despite challenges. So when they come up against that challenge, that's not a brick wall, they just find a way to work around.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Yes, and again, I think this goes back to something that we've kind of said over and over again: orgasm is not the goal, intercourse is not the goal. The goal with our sex our sex lives is intimacy and oneness. And as long as we're looking for that, then we can find so many different ways to meet that oneness and enhance that oneness in a sexual way. So uh I think the implication here for long-term marriages is that couples who maintain satisfying sexual relationships are able to adapt their sexual patterns over time rather than maintaining rigid expectations. And I think one other key to this, which isn't didn't really the the authors of the study didn't really go into this a lot, but a key to this is you're gonna have to have multiple conversations over time as you face difficulties.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

Right. How else are you adapting, you know, if you're not discussing this? And so if you're gonna be able to have those conversations, then you need to learn how to have those conversations, right?

Study 2: Parenthood And Relationship Quality

SPEAKER_00 19:35

It's great to think that, oh, we're we're so deeply in love that when we face challenges, we're just gonna know, and we're just gonna know how to res how the other person needs us to respond in the moment. Uh, that is a fairy tale, folks. That's not going to happen. So you gotta have the conversations. Um, so let's move on to the next one. Yeah. Uh here the the next study is uh was published by a group in uh a journal called Family Process in 2024. Uh the title of the study is Longitudinal Associations. Okay, and everybody's checked out. Just yeah, don't worry about the title. But the uh just for those of you who care, the title is Longitudinal Associations between relational and sexual well-being in couples transitioning to parenthood.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Ooh, I caught those last couple of words. Any transitioning to parenthood.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

And for those of you who have been there, you recognize that is a challenging place to be. Uh, for those of you who have not yet transitioned to parenthood in your marriage, just wait, it's coming for you. Uh it's uh uh there there are definitely challenges in that. Um and the the the whole idea of longitudinal associations means like what what happens to the relationship and to your sex life as you are a couple that is moving from no kids to having kids.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Right. So the key findings of the study.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Um I'll just quote the authors here. They said that uh declines in relationship quality were associated with declines in sexual satisfaction and increases in sexual distress for both partners. So what that means is if you are having stress in your relationship, you think parenthood causes new stress in relationships?

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Just a little.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Uh yes, for a fact it does. Um, and if you have um poorer sex lives, that also, of course, happens in your relationship. But what they found, which is interesting here, is not only is there an association between sexual satisfaction and relationship quality, not only did they and they also found that they There is a relationship between stress in partners and decline in relationship quality. What they found, which is interesting, is that the quality of the relationship is what drove the quality of sexual satisfaction. In other words, having a poor relationship is what leads to poor sex. It is not poor sex that leads to a poor relationship. So I don't I took a lot of words to say that, but that's what they found there. The other finding is sexual well-being operates as a couple-level system. Again, I'm using their words, but essentially what that means is changes in one partner's relational well-being had an impact on the other partner's sexual well-being. Again, there were these what they're calling dyadic. We're, you know, again, we're getting science-y here, but it's the partner-to-partner effects. If one person does not feel good about the relationship, the other person's sexual satisfaction will be will decline. Meaning it's all integrated. You cannot separate sex from the rest of your relationship. You cannot separate the rest of your relationship from your sex life. You can't say we're just going to put our sex life on hold until the kids get older because both will suffer, both your sex life and your your entire relate, your emotional well-being.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Well, sounds a lot like what we say that sex is your relationship. Yes. It's it's not the one thing that you do behind closed doors. It is it is all interconnected together.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Precisely. Yeah, precisely. Again, um, and and again, this so this the implication for long-term marriages is again this the sexual vitality, the the life of your sex um uh sexual relationship is not independent of the relationship. They they all go together and they evolve together. As one is strengthened, the other is strengthened, and and vice versa. But again, relational health drives sexual health, not the other way around.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Which I think is is surprising to a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

That's gonna be that is surprising to a lot of people. I mean, uh, some some of us would love to believe that if we just get the sex right, then we can the rest will take care of itself, uh, or the other way around. But you know, again, the the overall though, um, if you have a poor sex life, you don't just need to work on your sex life. You don't need to learn new techniques and novelty. Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Your poor sex life is a symptom of a poor relationship. Yeah. And so you've you've got to focus on all of it.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

More sex or and better sex are not going to fix your poor relationship. Um again, if if you have sex problems, look in the mirror and fix yourself and fix your relationship, and the rest will follow.

Study 3: Love, Sex, And Aging

SPEAKER_01 25:05

All right. One last study.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Oh, I'm so disappointed. We're already at the the last study. Um, I should have put three more in here.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Go ahead, honey.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Nope, go ahead, honey, she says. Uh the third study uh was published in Social Sciences just last year in 2025. Uh, the title is Love, Sex, and Aging. Gendered Perspective on Relationship Desires and Satisfaction in Older Adulthood.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Oh, so our last one dealt with parenthood, and this one deals with aging. Older adulthood.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

I would love to say that I can take credit for choosing these studies that cover multi-generations, but uh that that was a happy accident.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Uh it's working well.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

Some of us are older, having just celebrated my 50th birthday. Um, some of us are older, so this is uh even more relevant for me. Uh key findings. The uh the first one was, uh at least to me, was that emotional meaning becomes increasingly important with age. Again, I'm kind of quoting the authors here, but um, what what they said is that as people age, they begin to prioritize emotionally meaningful connections and positive experiences in their relationships uh over um just the pure physical sexual experiences. Um, so the emotional meaning becomes more and more important to uh folks as they age as a whole. Um, the second uh important finding, at least what I thought was important, is um, as they said, sexual satisfaction in later life is tied to more, uh is tied more to emotional intimacy than frequency. So again, uh just like the first finding, the emotional meaning was more important than novelty. They're also saying that emotional intimacy became more important to folks as they age rather than frequency of sex.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

Yeah, that older adults tend to focus less on that novelty or that frequency and more on connection, companionship, and relational fulfillment.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Right, exactly. So uh again, that seems to be true. I don't know if that's gonna be true for everybody out there, but that seems to be um something that's important. So uh here's one important takeaway from that. Um you as a if you are a young person, if you are a young married couple, you don't have to focus on trying to do every possible thing that's in that's possible. Right. You you don't and you that ultimately is a lot less important. Now that for a lot of young, we'll just stereotype and say for a lot of young men, even middle-aged men, that can be become almost an obsession focusing on trying to do every possible thing possible because that's what seems the most interesting to you. What I will say is you will the reason older uh adults um uh shift more towards emotional meaning is because that's where their real meaning is. They don't they aren't switching because they can't have more frequency or they can't have more variety or novelty. They s they shift their focus because they find that's where the real meaning is. Um so again, the the implications for long-term marriages sexual relationships are going to shift. I say going to for the majority of older adults, sexual relationships are going to shift toward emotional, meaningful intimacy rather than purely physical performance. So those those things tend to make the big biggest difference in the long run.

unknown 29:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Any surprises?

SPEAKER_01 29:22

No, but I think what I love is hearing these studies, which some of them have to do with um looking at Christian marriages, most of them don't. Um, but all of them and their findings are solidifying what we already know about God's plan for marriage and and intimacy in all realms of your marriage, that it's all meant to work together, that the focus in your marriage should not be sex for sex sake, but that it should be about creating oneness and connection with one another. And that when you do that over a whole lifetime together, ultimately it is about the deep emotional intimacy you create.

Keep Striving & Don't Settle!

SPEAKER_00 30:15

That's a uh yeah, a great point. And I think it's also important to recognize um first, these none of these studies were aimed at looking at Christian marriages. These are in in some cases atheistic or even agnostic researchers who are finding through their studies coming to the same conclusions as biblical instruction. Yeah. And so I think that's really important. The the other important uh implication here uh is that even especially in these long longitudinal studies where they're looking at these couples over long periods of time, physiologically, it is impossible for men, well, unless you're supplementing um hormones or whatever, but it is impossible for men and women to maintain the level of libido, naturally derived libido from a hormonal standpoint. Like you can't when you're 50, you can't live like you're 20. Your body just doesn't do that. When you're 80, your body is not the same as when it was 50 or 40 or whatever it might be. And so again, the emphasis still that these researchers find is that sexual satisfaction is not correlated by libido. It your natural sexual desire does not correlate with the degree of sexual satisfaction. And I think that should give hope to everyone.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Yeah. That these findings aren't saying 20-year-olds are having great, the best sex, and too bad, so sad, by the time you're 80. That's not what these findings are.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

In fact, it's the very opposite. Yeah. That couples are growing in their relationship and in their sexual relationship and their sad their sexual satisfaction. They are growing together despite the challenges that they face in aging and life and stress and parenthood and everything else.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

And I would say not just despite, but when you take those challenges and work together, that's what produces the fruit of a healthy, intimate marriage.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Right. So the big summary, if even if we're if we're just summarizing these three um research publications, uh, is that couples who maintain strong relationships tend to maintain strong sexual relationships. And that's really the key point. Focus on your marriage, focus on building one another up, focus on connecting emotionally and spiritually and relationally, focus on that connection and great sex will become a part of that.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

And I I love that these studies help point out, I think, our mission. Like, you know, people all the time, oh, you have a sex podcast. Well, yes, and no, because what we have is a relationship podcast. We have a marriage podcast that yes, uses this platform to talk about how does that play out within your marriage bed, but more specifically, how does your married sex life showcase your relationship, the oneness that is a part that should be, by God's design, a part of every aspect of intimacy within your marriage. And so that's exactly that you have to have a strong marriage relationship in order to have a strong sexual relationship. And it is all necessary and tied together because God designed it to all work together.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

What a beautiful plan. What a beautiful, what a great God to design such an amazing relationship.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

And Matt, it's pretty cool to see science showing us off, showing off that God's plan works. So yay you for finding all of the research.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

Glad to help.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

Now it's time to grab your spouse and your Bible and head to your kitchen table to have the conversation about building lifelong love. What are you going to do to support each other and your marriage so that you continue to grow towards oneness, even in the face of the challenges that you will face?

SPEAKER_00 34:50

We'd love to hear your feedback. What did we miss? What uh findings, what's what sexual research articles have you come across that uh seem interesting? I'd certainly love to review those with you. Uh give us uh send us an email, contact us by emailing podcast at intimatecovenant.com, or if you'd like to be anonymous about it, uh go to our website, intimatecovenant.com/slash podcast, and you can click the button to submit an anonymous uh form.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Thanks to all of you for listening, subscribing, rating, and sharing the podcast. We're truly humbled by your encouragement and all of your support. And thanks especially to our Patreon subscribers. These are the individuals who come alongside us in a very real way and help support us financially so that we can do what we love here. If Intimate Covenant has blessed your marriage, we'd love to have you join us too. Subscribe at patreon.com slash intimate covenant.

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We'd also encourage you to support our affiliate businesses. These are uh businesses that have uh contributed to Intimate Covenant in a special way. These businesses also have links and exclusive discount codes that help to support, of course, them. They can provide you with uh incredible and high-quality products. Uh and if you support them, they support us, and it all works like one big happy family. Uh links to those uh those companies are in our show notes. Also in the show notes, I'm gonna include the links to those research studies if you want to read them yourself. But until then, until next time, keep striving and don't settle.