Abraham Hamilton III Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.

Abraham Hamilton III This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

Abraham Hamilton III It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite, delivering people

Abraham Hamilton III out of the bondage of mainstream media and the philosophies of this world.

Abraham Hamilton III God has called you and me to be his ambassadors even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment.

Abraham Hamilton III And now the Hamilton Corner.

Abraham Hamilton III Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio. I'm your host, Abraham Hamilton iii, broadcasting day two here from the lovely sunny state of Florida here in Orlando, Florida at the 2026 Homeschool Legal Defense Association's National Leaders Conference. That is HSLDA. It's been a wonderful time thus far. heard great devotional message this morning, concerning striving versus serving and how it's very easy when we're working to serve the Lord. We can allow ourselves to slip over into the condition of where we're striving. No longer resting in the Lord and trusting him with the outcome of our labor, but we're striving within ourselves. It's very easily to turn our work in many ways into an idol in and of itself. And so it was great to hear. There was a great reminder for me as well because when you are committed to a vision and serving the Lord with passion, it's very easy to really what it is is put yourself in God's place to where you are seeking to be the guarantor of the outcome instead of simply living from the posture to a duty is ours, but the results truly, the results truly are his. So I was grateful for that reminder this morning at this very moment, many of you, if not most of you, are making your transitions from your part time jobs where you generate an income to your full time jobs where you cultivate an outcome. And as you do so, I want to remind you to do so with intentionality, allowing the primacy that God places on family to govern, to guard and to guide your engagements in your families. And it is not a coincidence that family is the foundational building block for the church. Family is the foundational, building block for society. But, but most importantly, God has ordained family as his first institution with marriage at the center because it is the institution tasked primarily with the responsibility of cultivating multi generational faithfulness to God. We're going to talk about that at length during today's program and it is incumbent upon us that we welcome the Lord to give Us a vision for family. That we don't just stumble our way into it. That we don't just allow the, culture combined with biological reality to say, oh, there you go, family, but we actually have a vision for family. And that the vision that we have flows from God's vision for family. And we engage in cultivating family intentionally. Now, as I'm saying that I'm keenly aware that our, that our audience is comprised of people at various life stages. And I don't want anybody to take, the unintentional communication. And I'm saying that God doesn't care about your life stage or that is not important if you're not in a place where you have young children in your home, that this show is not for you, not in the least bit. But the reality is we have allowed, unfortunately, the world, the flesh and the devil to encroach upon what God. What God's vision is for the family. I've been talking a lot about the statistics on the program concerning family formation, how in many ways, marriage has fallen out of favor. And these are things, that are detrimental to us individually. Yes. And to our society as a whole. Yes. And to the vitality of the Lord's church, frankly, because of what I said earlier, that the family is the, is the primary institution tasked with cultivating multi generational faithfulness to the Lord. Well, what's ha. What happens then when you get a talking snake that slithers into that garden? Well, what ends up happening is that you have a nation that has this thing called, you know, the United States Constitution. I don't know if you ever heard of it before. We have this other thing, you know, called the Bill of Rights, and we have this Declaration of Independence. And while at the exact same time that we have that, we also have an ascending movement of democratic socialism. We have an ascending movement of moms who want to murder their children in the womb. And now if you murder your children after they're, I don't know, eight months old, three years old and five years old, you get people who rally in support of you and turn your attorney into a rock star, even though your attorney might not even know that the President of the United States has no wherewithal to offer pardons to state criminal charges. Guys, this is how these things happen. This is, this is how these things happen. You have a society that has a court that judicially amends the 14th Amendment to make a mockery out of citizenship in our nation, to say that, oh, anybody born here? Anybody? Anybody? Hey, you, you could be born here and have no allegiance to our country whatsoever, but you get to get the benefit of citizenship. Guys, these things have. Have gone astray. Ah, but what I want you to understand is that they're not the root of the problem. They are the fruit of the problem. And what is the problem, you might ask? I'll say it very plainly, very simply. The problem is that our people, the American populace, have largely turned away from the Lord. And so if we're going to see a course correction, we cannot merely have a course correction. We must have a heart correction that we must turn to the Lord in repentance and faith. And there is only one way forward, and that is through the hard road of repentance to the word of God. We go. We're going to begin the program today in Proverbs, chapter 1. Proverbs, chapter 1, verses 8 through 10 is where I want to go. because I remember when my wife and I first got married and, the Lord blessed us to conceive our first child. And people would say things like, well, there's no handbook or manual concerning child rearing. And I remember thinking, hm, but, but didn't God say in his Word that he's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness? And, y' all can't see it, but my wife is right over there. She's right there, babe. Doesn't life include rearing children? I would think that would be included. And you know, I understand and I appreciate wisdom as I'm able to receive it from those who give wisdom, but not everything that people say is wisdom. And so I, just go to the Bible and this is a verse because while yes, the Bible is not a step by step how to manual, this is how you put on a cloth diaper. Remember that adventure in cloth diapers? This is how you pin the cloth diaper. No, it's not a how to manual in that sense, but the Lord's word speaks to every circumstance, including family formation, marital investment, and parenting. There is either a text that directly addresses what your issue or my issue may be, or a principle from the text that addresses your issue or what my issue may be. In Proverbs, chapter 1, verses 8 through 10 kind of punctuates this reality because the thrust and the tenor of the book of Proverbs comes to us by divine inspiration, but through a means of parental advice. My son, hear this. Listen to your father's instruction. Listen to your mother's instruction. Is that, Is that Jeff? Is that not what the text says. Let me give you an example what I'm talking about. Proverbs, chapter 1, verses 8 through 10. This is what verse 8 says. Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching. Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head and ornaments about your neck, my son. If sinners entice, you do not consent. Now, these proverbs coming from the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs, begin as I just described them to you. I'll start with the last verse that I read first, where you have a father advising his son concerning the necessity of. To resist the enticement of sinners. Notice that the text makes a contrast, a, dividing line between the sinners and the Son of the Father. Notice that, my son, if sinners entice, you do not consent. You don't have to consent to the enticement of the wicked, my son. You want to talk about fatherly advice, that's fatherly advice. But if you go back, you. You notice it says, hear, my son, your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching. The. The verse in chapter. I'm sorry, verse 8, chapter 1. Verse 8 mentions the Father's instruction and the mother's teaching, both of them. Then when you get to verse nine, it says, indeed they are a graceful wreath to your head. What is the they that's being mentioned there? The they is taking. The compound is the compounding of the offering from the father's instruction and the mother's teaching. Indeed, they are a graceful wreath or a graceful garland to your head. And ornaments. Notice the plurality of the ornaments, plurality of the recommendation and the reference ornaments about your neck. In fact, the entirety of the Book of Proverbs comes from the standpoint that the objective here is to be a means of conveying wisdom, truth, counsel and understanding within the context where fathers the Father is represented in terms of the one offering the instruction. So when you say, well, there's no handbook for parenting. There's no handbook for rearing a family, I would challenge that assertion because as I began the program stating that among the human institutions that God established, He intentionally unfolded human history and unfolded his created order in the manner that he did so. The first of the human institutions that God has established, established for ordered liberty and maximize human flourishing and is the family with marriage at the center. And it is unfolded in that manner intentionally because it is the family that is tasked primarily with establishing multi generational faithfulness to the Lord in the very Beginning the first command ever, ever given to mankind is in Genesis 1. Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it. You move to the NewSong Testament, you see a command. I've explained this on the program before. In Ephesians, chapter six, the first half of the book of Ephesians is written in the indicative mood. In Greek, it's indicating who we are. That's where we get the glowing theological Paris. theological, instructions of things like for you were dead in trespasses and sins, but you were quickened together, quickened alive together in Christ Jesus. The second half of the book of Ephesians is written in the imperative mood. In Greek it is an imperative is a synonym for command. So when the Lord says, fathers, do not exasperate your children. Rather rear them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, the paideia and new thesia of the Lord. That is a command, as you've heard me explain before. It's a command that is a, that is ultimately to fathers, but not exclusively to fathers. Because unlike our current Supreme Court justice who is unaware of what a woman is, or you're at least unwilling to say what a woman is impressed public during the confirmation hearing in order for you have. In order to have a command that is addressed to fathers ultimately, and it pertains to children. In order to have fathers and children, guess what has to be involved in that formula? Mothers. So it is. It is a command to fathers and mothers, but fathers with the ultimate accountability and responsibility, very similar to when the rebellion transpires in the garden. Who is the one that God calls to account first? It is the man, the husband. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, rather rear them in the nurture and admonition, of the Lord, the discipline and instruction of the Lord, the paideia and the luthesia of the Lord. That task shows that it is, ah, an accountability that is ultimately applicable to fathers. It is also flows from the reality when God defines what marriage is to the exclusion of all counterfeits in the book of Genesis. And the incarnate Messiah affirms that definition in Matthew 19, it says, and for this reason shall a man leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife. That this reality elevates the responsibility that fathers have in the formation of their families and in the paidea new these year of our children. What I'm saying very simply folks, is God gives a mandate for us and we must resist the cultural press to define for us what families should be. Instead, we should recognize that we get our marching orders from the Lord and the Lord alone. M. Hello, I'm Abraham Hamilton iii. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not ex. That's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by, visiting afr.net give Ah, that's afr.net give.

Abraham Hamilton III Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner. Abraham Hamilton III here, and I am honored to have on the program with me, a man who I've had the honor of meeting, serving with on the HSLDA board of directors alongside and getting to know him and his wife quite a bit. for the first time, my wife and I had breakfast with he and his wife. I said, I want to have Joe on the program. My guest is none other than Joe Bailey, who is a servant of Christ dedicated to working hard as to the Lord and attributing all glory to God. He's married to his wonderful wife Elisabeth, who has been his wife for the last 14 years. Both he and Elisabeth, are second generation homeschoolers, and together they raised and homeschooled their nine children. The ninth was born not too long ago. Praise, praise God for that. They live in a rural property in Iowa and are, faithful members of Christ the Redeemer Church in Pella, Iowa, where Joe serves as a deacon. One of Joe's prayers is that the Bailey lineage would stay faithful to Christ for at least 10 generations to come. Joe studied at Letourneau University, which is a Christian university in Texas, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science and engineering. He's a certified welding inspector, a certified welding engineer, and a professional engineer. He is currently the manufacturing engineering manager at Vermeer Corporation, overseeing the new product manufacturing, engineering, tooling, and 3D printing teams. Joe, thank you for joining me here on the Hamilton Corner.

Speaker C My pleasure. Thanks for inviting me.

Abraham Hamilton III Oh, you are most, most, most welcome. And I'll never forget the first conversation we had. You mentioned a desire, for your family, the Bailey family, the Bailey lineage, to have at least 10 generations of faithful Christ followers. And that resonated with me from that moment. My wife and I talked about it, after we finished breakfast. And, it brought tears to my eyes, because you gave voice to a cry of my heart. How did, that idea begin to resonate with you in terms of wanting to be a part of establishing at a minimum, 10 generations of faithful Christ followers of the Bailey lineage.

Speaker C Well, it started with the influence of my earthly father. My dad has, he's a second generation Christian himself.

Abraham Hamilton III Okay.

Speaker C His parents were. Came to Christ and, set a great example for us and really invested in their kids, that is me and my siblings. And, he was praying for at least seven generations. I'm like, I'm gonna up the ante.

Abraham Hamilton III So your dad was praying for seven?

Speaker C My dad was praying for seven generations. I want to up the ante. I want to go to at least 10.

Abraham Hamilton III Wow, that's amazing, man. And I guess we should take a few steps back if you're. If you're okay with it. Would you mind sharing with our audience here how you came to faith in Christ?

Speaker C Certainly. Well, I would say I have never not known Christ. I have been a, Christian since I was born and that my parents were Christians and they passed on that faith to me. When I was 12 years old, I was baptized. When I was like 5 years old, I accepted Christ kind of formally into my heart in Sunday school class. But all those were just ratifications of what was already present and that I really don't know. A time where I didn't know Christ. Sure, I had times in my upbringing where I was questioning, okay, who exactly is God? And is this really my faith? Am I really seeking him or not? So. So it doesn't mean I didn't have questions along the way or that I didn't have to seek and make it my own. But I can truly say there's never a time I didn't know God. And, that's such a rich blessing. And that is true of my children and obviously my prayer for many generations to come.

Abraham Hamilton III So in light of that, I was, A lot of things. One of the things we do here is keep up with various things. There's, a report, a study actually, that was conducted by the institute, for Family Studies, based in Virginia. Really? And it's showing that the data that has been presented recently shows that young men ages 20 to 39, that the quantity of young men in that age group who are unmarried has, exploded exponentially. 25 years ago was only about 2.6 million American, men that would have been in that category being between the ages of 20 and 39 that are unmarried. whereas now in the data actually was as of 2025. So it's not even up to 2026. In 2026, that number, it's exploded to where it's over 15 million unmarried men in that age range to whereas the ratio is now almost 2 to 1. Unmarried versus married. How would you say, especially for the body of Christ, that we should, we need to press forward with the reality of cultivating family and in addition to that, cultivating an intentional vision for what family should be as the scriptures, unfold that reality.

Speaker C Well, specifically to the question of marriage, we should have a vision for our children to get married. Like that is the norm. Yes. The Apostle Paul talks about how it is good to be able to serve Christ as a single person as well. that is a high calling, but that's not the most common calling. The most common calling is to become married and, and to raise warriors for Christ. We see this in psalms like Psalm 127 where it talks about the blessing of children who are arrows in the hands of a warrior. And so anyway, that should be our vision and desire. And like for me in my household, as soon as a child's born, one of the first prayers I pray over them is that God would be preparing a spouse for them someday. And that is a regular prayer of mine for my kids. And it's really important, to be seeking that good for them. And I know that was something my parents put a lot of time and energy into. And it was interesting to see how each of my siblings, like all of our stories of how we met our spouse and how we got to marry were uniquely different, very different methods and ways. But God blessed all of them and that's what I hope for my children.

Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. You know, I've explained before that the vocation of singleness is a vocation, but it is a vocation from God. And that vocation is accompanied by the God given gift of celibacy. You know, that is not a vocation that should be claimed as a result of relational disappointments or unmet expectations that it is a vocational gift from God. But when you consider the first command that God gave to mankind which is to be fruitful and multiply, we also have the God given context for that. Fruitfulness and multiplication would be in a lifelong committed covenantal marriage context from which we can easily move to recognize the majority, the majority disposition as God wills it. For people aren't most of us are going to be married. The Apostle Paul's vocation of singleness is an exception more than it should be viewed as the rule. But in many ways believers today are taking our marching orders from the world and even using unmet life expectations, to kind of Set for us what we will pursue. but having that recognition that marriage and family is something that. That God establishes and wills for the majority of us should shape our thinking, expectations for it. But there's been a rise in kind of an attempt to valorize singleness. I would. I would say to a degree in the sense of saying, well, not everybody is called to be married. Which is true, but that does not mean that the majority of people are not called to be married.

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III So if that is the case, the understanding of marriage and family should be anchored in God's holy word. And so you said you were the beneficiary of. And I remember this from our earlier conversation in Texas, how, That as you were, developing in your studies and, growing to a particular point, one of the things your dad said to you is that, all right, at the appropriate point, you need to consider now whether or not it's time for you to pursue a wife.

Speaker C Yes. I remember that distinctly because I had been really committed in high school and even in my early college years to not pursue pursuing a woman. Because I didn't feel like I was ready to get married. But then my, summer between my junior and senior year, my dad said, all right, Joe, when are you gonna start looking for a spouse? It's time. And at the same time, senior year in college. This. Between my junior and senior year in college. Correct. You got it. And, not that I'm saying that's the right timing for everyone. That was. Just happened to be for me. And, I remember distinctly too. God just laying on my heart a dissatisfaction of singleness. Like I had been reasonably content so far. Not that I had never noticed a woman. Not that I ever thought of what marriage could be like. But God specifically laid a discontentment on my heart. And then he put in my way Elisabeth, who I had known for many years already, but had not, pursued or really taken any action towards. And there was a distinct moment where I met her at a family gathering, or gathering of many families, really. And I thought to myself, that is the woman I want to marry. And God laid that on my heart. And it was, a very distinct inflection moment in time. And, it was very clear confirmation that this was the time to get married.

Abraham Hamilton III Now, you said a couple things, and one of them resonates with me so much because it reminds me of something. The conversation I have with my son. You said prior to, the Lord rousing a discontent with singleness in your heart. And the conversation you had with your dad, you were previously content to be married and earlier in your life you hadn't pursued a woman because you felt, because you knew you weren't yet ready to be a husband.

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III Would you talk a little bit about that? Because I, think it's important for us to understand that for the body of Christ, the way that we should seek to be joined in holy matrimony and pursue romantic relationships, it shouldn't be something that flows from what's prevalent in the world. So this idea of not being ready to be a husband is one of the main things that anchored your, your lack of pursuing a relationship with a woman until that time was right.

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III Would you talk a little bit about that?

Speaker C Certainly. So some of the things that I think are important for, being ready for marriage are. One is maturing that you can lead a wife and future children in faith. Now that doesn't mean you have to be fully matured. Right. God's going to keep doing that throughout your life. Another is that you're in a position to be ready to financially provide. And for me, that the clear indicator for that was graduating from college. Okay, I'm a year out from graduating from college. I'm in a good position to get a job and then be able to provide for a family. I've pursued college debt free, so I'm not going to be burdened by that. Not that again. These are not things that I'm suggesting should be requirements for everyone. I'm just explaining my experience. but the ability provided is important, the spiritual leadership is important, and the self discipline is important.

Abraham Hamilton III and the reason why I wanted to bring that out is one of the things that I've talked to my own son about. And in our men's ministry at our local church, we brought our older sons, our teenage sons. And one of the things we talked about was that reality that at this stage of their adolescence and development, they were all teenagers. that you are in a life stage where you should be focused primarily on building yourself into the man that God has called you to be and growing to be worthy of a wife. That's the conversation we talk about. Are you worthy of a wife? God has made us to be males is a reality of our ability to identify women. he's made us to be attracted to women. But the right thing at the wrong time is still the wrong thing. And not only is it the wrong thing, it could be life alteringly detrimental if we pursue the wrong, the right thing at the wrong time. And so what you shared Just now, about the things that contributed to your lack of pursuit of a romantic relationship until you were ready for a wife resonated deeply with me. And it's one of the things that I think people talk about. Make America great again. We need to make marriage great again. We need to make men great again. We need to m. Make the pursuit of manhood great again. And we need to have godly men who, who have influence on godly young men, starting with our father, with the fathers first, and having, you know, a, dare I say, a fraternity of godly men who influence godly young men, in terms of cultivating, as a, As a standardized, normalized portion of our discourse. Are you worthy of a wife?

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III we don't need to talk about. Oh, man, what are you doing? Are you dating? No, no. These are not the conversations. We need to be, talking and checking in with our young men as they're matriculating into manhood to say, are you building yourself into being worthy of your life? And then as that transpires with, with tangible metrics, then having the strong conversations. Okay. Like your dad did with you.

Abraham Hamilton III Yeah.

Abraham Hamilton III Joe, have you thought about the need for you to start to pursue a wife?

Speaker C Yes. I'm really glad you brought up the point of other men too, and mentoring young men, because I benefited greatly from that of other men. And around the same time my dad was challenging me, there were other men. I remember distinctly one other Christian homeschool dad who said to me, so, Joe, when are you going to start looking for a wife? It was around that same time. So having other men in your life is really important. Who can speak into that as well?

Abraham Hamilton III Now I'm going to invite you to do something that I may do from time to time, talk about my wife when she's not here. You said you reacquainted yourself with Elisabeth. I remember our first conversation at breakfast like it was yesterday.

Speaker C Yeah.

Abraham Hamilton III and you'd known Elisabeth, but you hadn't seen her in the way that you saw her at this particular time?

Abraham Hamilton III What was it about her that caused you to say when you reacquainted yourself with her, that, that is a woman I want to marry. What was it about her?

Speaker C Yeah, there was multiple things. So I'll step through a little bit of the history of that, please.

Abraham Hamilton III we want all the good stuff.

Speaker C All the good stuff. All right. I love telling this story. So it started out, we attended a civics class together called Teen Pact. When my sister was attending it, I was her brother. Was attending it, and I noticed Elisabeth, and I noticed her brother.

Abraham Hamilton III About what age were you?

Speaker C I was 17 and she was 16. So we were both in high school. And I, remember noticing her and thinking, wow, that is a woman who carries herself well and speaks well. and she gave a speech about biblical femininity that received a standing ovation from the audience. And I remember thinking to myself during that speech, the girl she described is the girl I want to marry someday. And so I took that away. And again, I wasn't ready to date. I wasn't ready to start pursuing women. But I was like, wow, could I be worthy to marry a woman like that? Fast forward, to a few years later. We met at a homeschool conference. And I remember talking with her there and being, frankly, a little intimidated by that conversation and thinking, again, would that I could be worthy to marry a woman like this. M. And so that was inspiring me in my own mature growth and maturity, which was wonderful. and then fast forward to that gap that summer between junior and senior year in college. This big family gathering event. It was a fourth of July event that my sister had coordinated with a lot of homeschool Christian families. And. And I walked up to a conversation where Elisabeth was talking to another dad. and he was the dad of one of my good friends from high school. and that dad was talking to her. And I joined the conversation. And then one of the things he said as he left the conversation, he said, I want you m. To meet my son. And I knew immediately what he was thinking. He was thinking, nice, single girl. My son's still single. Maybe we can make something happen here. And I briefly inside, internally, and I was surprised by it. I was like, why did this thought occur to me? And the thought that occurred was, no, I don't want this friend to marry Elisabeth. I want to marry Elisabeth. And it kind of knocked me on my heels. I was like, what was that? And she kind of looked at me and smiled and then walked away. And, so then that morning. So that was in the evening. The next morning, I woke up really early, and I couldn't think of anything but Elisabeth. And that I really loved this woman and wanted to pursue her. And I shared it with my dad. And he was like, okay, great. When are you gonna talk to her dad about it? And so he kind of pushed me, into that, which was great. And it turns out I found out after the fact that my sister was praying for me to get together with Elisabeth.

Abraham Hamilton III I gotta pause you right there, because we gotta hit a break. But after the break, we're gonna come back to learn lifetimes of Joe and Elisabeth Bailey. We'll be back right after this break. Hello, I'm Abraham Hamilton iii. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. That's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.netgive that's afr.net give.

Abraham Hamilton III The Hamilton quarter podcast and one minute commentaries are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, everybody. Abraham Hamilton III here. My guest is Joe Bailey, husband of one Elisabeth, father of nine, happily married for 14 years. And we were in the middle of learning quite a bit more about Joe's pursuit of Elisabeth. And one of the things he mentioned, I think it's worthwhile both for, the grandmothers, the mothers who are listening to this program, as well as the, young women who are listening to this program, in addition to the fathers, grandfathers and young men who are listening. because Joe, you mentioned that having met Elisabeth early on, one of the initial thoughts that you had was that man. You were a bit intimidated by her because of her godly maturity and how her godly maturity provoked in you a desire to mature, likewise, to ultimately put you in a position to where you would be, as we've been talking about, worthy to lead her as a. As a husband. M. And I think that's something that's worthwhile. On one hand, we've been talking about, being worthy of a wife as a husband. but it's instructive for us to understand that the scripture likewise says that he that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. The quality of, of wifeliness is present in our wives before we even find them. Yes, you know, so, so while we're talking to our young men about being worthy of a wife, there also is, is a place where we have the Titus 2 phenomenon, where we have older godly women, starting with their mothers and including other women surrounding them, that help our young women cultivate the qualities of wifeliness, the qualities of godly wifeliness, so that when their husbands find them, those qualities are there. That's not the time. I, often like to say, you know, you stay ready so you don't have to get ready. You know what I mean? These are the types of things that we want to cultivate. And these are the types of conversations that must be normalized within the family of God. And contrary to some of the popular phenomenons, I saw a video not too long ago where you had some of these celebrities who, guys we don't understand. Just because somebody's popular doesn't mean they're wise. And there was a, popular celebrity woman who said, well, you know, why is it that I have never approached a man and I would simply answer that question? Because it's not your responsibility. The scripture gives us clear guidance as to the fact that it is the husband's responsibility to find his bride and not in the reverse or an inverse of that reality. But there is the reality of cultivating godly virtue. And it is godly virtue that is attractive to a godly man. You know, a godly man is not going to be attracted to an ungodly woman and vice versa. Now, I know, I know what I'm saying is provocative in a lot of circles because one of the things that some people don't like to talk to me about is if people profess to be Christians who say, well, Abe, I want to tell you about this person that I met. They know my first question going to be, are they Christians?

Abraham Hamilton III And if I ask the question, are they Christians? And your response to me is, well, this is not monopoly, but do not pass go, do not collect 200. Because if you, if you can't answer that question with a forthright affirmative yes, then we're not even having a constructive conversation about this phenomenon. So. But getting back to your story, so you have this, this encounter with Elisabeth. Early on, you saw her from a distance, heard her speak, man blown away, conversed with her. Intimidated by her. But not, not an intimidation that is, paralyzing, but it is one that is man. I want to grow to meet that level of maturity in myself.

Speaker C I want to be able to win that woman.

Abraham Hamilton III I want to be able to win that woman. That woman. Not a woman, that woman. Right. And now you get to this place to where, as another man seemingly wanted to kind of hook Elisabeth up with his son.

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III And you were stirred like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not going down. I want to marry her. And then you share with your dad, and your dad kind of gives you this godly, encouragement to say, okay, when are you going to talk to her dad about it?

Speaker C Yes, he does indeed. And it actually took me like two weeks to get up the nerve to go talk to her dad, which seems kind of ridiculous in retrospect, but that was where I was at, at the

Abraham Hamilton III moment, at the time.

Speaker C Yep, yep. So, I finally talked to her dad and he asked me a number of questions. And one of them I really remember was, well, how many children do you want to have? And I said, well, as many as God would give me. He's like, well, how many is that? Is that 6? Is that 12? And I was like, well, 13 would be fine, however many God would give me. and he was pressing into that question because that was really important to Elisabeth. and I'm really glad he did because that was also important to me. I wanted to have as many kids as God would give us because I see children as a blessing from the Lord. So anyway, that was another part of our experience. And then so we had literally one date before I went back to college. And I was in Texas, she was in Iowa. And so we dated long distance for five months. Lord, provided a way for her to come down and visit me once. And I, went up to, I was able to visit her once in Iowa through an interview process while, I was looking for jobs. and then five months in, I was like, I don't know what other questions I want to ask of this girl. I want to marry her. And so then I talked to her dad about, can I propose to your daughter Elisabeth? And he gave me the affirmative. And so we went, I went, I went ring shopping.

Abraham Hamilton III Yeah.

Speaker C And surprised her on December 30th.

Abraham Hamilton III And that's amazing, you know, and I love that my wife will tell you. I told her, that it doesn't take a whole day to recognize sunshine. You know, it doesn't take, when you know what you're looking for, it doesn't take a whole time to identify that in a person. And so that, that was just, I love hearing those testimonies and I tell people long engagements, I would be cautious of that. but this is wonderful. So now, you pursued her, you went ring shopping, and you guys begin building your family in one of the things that you pointed out, which is just instructive for me, I have two daughters, I'm a father as well. that Elisabeth's father knew her well enough to press you on your views on bearing children and having children. Because he knew how important that was to his daughter.

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III So he served as basically a screener.

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III For one of the toughest issues. most central important issues for his daughter, he served as a screener. For her in that regard. So.

Abraham Hamilton III That if you didn't cross that threshold with him, you never probably would have gotten.

Speaker C No, I wouldn't have to.

Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. So that is important. So when we're talking about, and similar to what you described your experience was with Elisabeth Father, my wife and I are discipling our children to where, they want us involved in their pursuit of spouses, which is prudent of them. You know, my daughters in particular, we've discussed. And dad, we want, if a, if a man wants to pursue us, they have to come through you, you know, because we know you have our best intentions in mind. You have our hearts and you know us. You know us already. So we know that if, the man that God has for us can. I don't. They may pick a different word. They might say survive. They might say endure. They may say make it through. I don't know what word they would choose, but make it through conversing with me, then they would feel even more comfortable, with that. And that's a role that I am to play in their lives. And the scripture gives us, evidence and foundation for that as well.

Speaker C Absolutely. And I love that you're cultivating it early on with your kids. That's what we're trying to do with ours. If you come, if you are the father and you're like, hey, I want to help my daughter make this decision or I want to help my son make decision. Like if you just show up the day they start dating, it's way too late. You've got to be there all along the way. So my daughters know without a shadow of a doubt that Daddy's going to protect them and Daddy's going to screen anyone and anybody wants to come date you, you come tell them to come talk to Daddy.

Abraham Hamilton III That's right.

Speaker C And and that's reassuring to them. This is not a. I have my thumb on the scales, as the father. This is. I want to protect my daughters and I want them to feel safe and secure and that I'm looking out for the best interest and that God's going to provide the right husband for them someday.

Abraham Hamilton III Amen.

Speaker C And likewise for my sons. Like I want them coming to me for advice and I'm talking to them about the importance of waiting until they're ready for marriage and things like that so that they're preparing their mental state. and so anyway, I laud you for that. Trying to do that with my own family. I think that's really important.

Abraham Hamilton III Amen Praise God. And these are the conversations again that need to be standardized and normalized within the body of Christ. because I often say it this way, who you marry will either catapult you further into God's destiny for you or hold you from it. There's no middle ground. There's no mushy middle or gray area. And when you recognize how important, marriage is first and foremost to God and, and the economy of the kingdom of God, and likewise to us as image bearers of God, why would we want to send our sons and daughters into the wild blue yonder to fend for themselves? That's not only imprudent, it violates scriptural tenet.

Speaker C Yes, absolutely.

Abraham Hamilton III Absolutely doesn't make sense to me at all.

Speaker C Well, and I think a great example of this, if, perhaps some of your audience has heard the Jukes Edwards study, which is a comparison of the Jonathan Edwards family with a. Basically a criminal, the Jukes family, and they studied like, literally 1400 of each of their descendants to see what was the result. And I, won't spend a lot of time on the Jukes because that's a sad story. You know, it wasn't a lot of broken families, a lot of murderers and criminals and stuff descended from that. But the Jonathan Edwards family, like their parents died when they were still kids. But they had invested so much, Jonathan and his wife had invested so much in their children and had set them up well for good marriage, good success, and godly character, most of m all. But, that you can read their lineage of, you know, the hundreds of judges and of, leaders. A, Congressman, like, there's so many great leaders that came out of that family lineage is because of what they poured in their children and because they set them up well for good marriages. And they had godly spouses who joined the mission and helped carry it further than any one of them could have done it by themselves.

Abraham Hamilton III Man.

Abraham Hamilton III Praise God. Praise God. Now, you and Elisabeth, you have nine children. Your ninth was born just a few weeks ago.

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III What m was that process like with you two coming together? And we already knew, you knew early that Elisabeth, it was important to her, to have as many children as the Lord would bless them with. That was likewise important to you.

Speaker C Yes.

Abraham Hamilton III what types of conversations did you all share in that regard? how you would build your families as the Lord would allow you. Was that a time of just harmonious dialogue? Was it, you had differences in the quantity of children you wanted to have? What Was that like, for you?

Speaker C Well, since her dad had already screened it, for me, it wasn't a hard conversation at all. Now, I knew she wanted lots of kids, I wanted lots of kids. And how many God would give us. You never know what God's going to bless you with or, or if he might close the womb. so we would love to have 12 kids. We'll see if God gives us that many. we're at nine right now.

Abraham Hamilton III Three fourths of the way.

Speaker C Three fourths of the way. We're getting there. Getting there, absolutely. So that was an easy conversation. And frankly, our whole dating time, that five months that I talked about, we were asking each other a lot of these hard questions. M. Because we wanted to vet. Is this going to work?

Abraham Hamilton III Yeah.

Speaker C and so we had like. One of the things that impressed me about Elisabeth was her willingness to only talk to me on Sundays while we were dating. Because I was super busy in college. I was student body president. I had a senior project I was leading and a bunch of other stuff. I was like, hey, so basically, you are the man.

Abraham Hamilton III In other words, yeah, I want to

Speaker C get to know you. I could talk to you on Sundays. And she said, okay. And so we had hours long conversations on Sunday afternoons. But that assured me that, okay, she is okay if I'm gonna work hard and she will still support me in that. And, so there were, there were things like that that indicated, but also we talked through. Okay, what do you. What's our desire to teach your children? What type of church do we want to be a part of? And, and are we gonna homeschool our children? Well, of course, like, no brainer on that for both of us, second generation homeschoolers. but anyway, those were the sorts of things, things we talked about. And it was, it's because we laid that foundation during the dating. Like, marriage was okay, we're getting to know each other and how to have fun together. And yeah, we'd already laid that foundation.

Abraham Hamilton III Man, that's awesome. Now you said it was a no brainer for you two, being second generation homeschoolers. But would you share in our audience here, why it was such a no brainer for you, that you were going to homeschool your children when you guys came together?

Speaker C Yeah, well, both of us had wonderful experiences. We had godly parents who had really invested enough. Not perfect, right. We certainly look back and can see gaps in what we would have liked to do differently. but they both gave us a love of learning. And that has carried us so far and so well. and we wanted that same thing for our children. And so we want our children first and foremost to love God and serve him. We want them to have a love of learning so that they can keep going and learning themselves, teaching themselves as they go. and so we saw that homeschooling really enabled that and allowed us to custom tailor the education to the needs and gifts of the child themselves. And so we said, we're committed to this. Doesn't mean we won't supplement, doesn't mean we won't take, you know, go to a co op or maybe even pull in some college classes early or who knows what, as along the way. Most of our kids are still young, 13 and under, so we haven't had to do a ton of outsourcing yet, but we're committed to, homeschooling all the way through.

Abraham Hamilton III Would you speak to that for a moment? The ability to customize, pertaining to your children's gifts and talents and abilities, because that's something that gets lost in our contemporary conversations about. We often call it education, but in our home, we call it cultivation of the mind and heart.

Speaker C Yeah. So for our family, I mean, one of the examples is my daughter Abigail has a really entrepreneurial spirit. She loves to earn money, to add value, to figure out what, what do people want or need. And so frankly, a lot of our, work with her has been enabling her how to earn money, how to do it in a good way. Like everything from raising and selling pet rabbits to selling cut flowers to processing elderberry syrup. I mean, there's all sorts of things that she's come up with and it's okay. How can we enable that and help her do it? Well, and then we could. And then we could take, well, hey, this is a math lesson. We're figuring out how much was your income, how much was your expenses, what did you net in the end? and, so anyway, there's, there's lots of fun ways you can tailor it. One of my sons, is really focused on Legos and puzzles and like, loves that sort of stuff. So how can we develop him in the math and sciences since that seems to be his bent in gifting? my parents did that same thing with me in, enabling me to go, to prep for engineering because I knew early, early on I wanted to do that. my sister wanted to do more medical or veterinarian stuff, so they tailored the education more towards that. I had a brother who loved mechanics, and so they helped him get into mechanics school.

Abraham Hamilton III And all of that flowed from your parents initially. And now you and Elisabeth as a second generation, having a vision for your family.

Speaker C Absolutely.

Abraham Hamilton III The views and opinions expressed in this

Speaker C broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.