Like-Minds: Two Hearts, One Mind, One God
Rediscovering the Value of Marriage
by
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Laughter as the Connection
Where you will find laughter regularly carried out in a marriage, you will often find strong communication. Why? Naturally, laughter is a connection within itself, simply due to its contagious trait. It is nearly impossible not to crack a smile or experience a gut-wrenching laugh when you notice someone else laugh, see something amusing, or hear something hilarious as in a joke. It is due to this contagious trait that creates a social or interpersonal connection amongst people.
Researchers have discovered that when a person laughs, a protein known as opioid receptors releases a chemical known as endorphins within the brain. As you might imagine, this chemical permits us to enter a euphoric place that makes us feel good for a moment. Now, considering the time restraints of this well-known sensation, the desire to often revisit this experience becomes addictive. When you laugh with your spouse, you instinctively yearn for another dosage.
Laughter within a marriage, in my estimation, only enhances communication, provokes interest in areas of concern, and nourishes the soul of both husband and wife alike. Tanisha and I have tested this principle so many times. This principle permitted us space to allow our sense of humor to thrive within our marriage. This space of laughter grants us the opportunity to use it at our disposal. For us, we often use it as our “little-handy-dandy” lifesaver we throw to one another when the waters seem a bit too high. There are times and seasons when a good laugh is needed: loss of a close family member, an unexpected lay-off, a bad day on the job, a sick child, or when there could be tension in the house. Laughter can communicate immediate healing, diffuse the tightest tension even in the direst of times. Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV) puts it this way: “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.”
So, of course, every person has the choice to either get well emotionally by taking the medicine of laughter or choosing to stay in a brittle place expecting to get better. As for my house, the lifesavers we have often thrown to one another enabled us to be reeled back to a place of safety, ensuring that our communication with one another stays afloat. In the words of the late great comedy legend Charlie Chaplin: “To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with it!”
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About the Book
It is not a question that marriages today, especially in this country, are under attack. The sacred union between man and woman through the lenses of our nation has seemingly lost its value and respect amid a growing culture that has degraded its significance—this is an epidemic in its own right. Like-Minds: Two Hearts, One Mind, One God—Rediscovering the Value of Marriage is a book that attempts to act as a clarion call; to refocus man’s attention and heart back to biblical principles carried out by both husband and wife.
God is the Creator of all things, including marriage. Like any creation, God has in Mind the purpose of the creation before He creates it. Minister Julien Folks passionately shares insight on helping young singles and married couples understand that God has a methodology in revealing His plan and purpose within His marriage covenant. Throughout this book, readers will identify one underlining principle: “How the marriage thinks as one in Christ propels them through every difficulty with a new perspective in God.”
In his first book, Like-Minds: Two Hearts, One Mind, One God—Rediscovering the Value of Marriage, the author shares solid scriptural support, personal challenges, and experiences to outline the process and spiritual journey both husband and wife must commit to in ensuring an overall healthy, sustaining, and successful marriage.
Join countless others who are rediscovering the purpose of marriage while learning practical and necessary tools to engage Two Hearts, through One Mind, in One God.
About the Author
Julien Folks is a minister of Word of Life Outreach Ministries in Raleigh, NC, where he has faithfully served now for more than ten years. In addition to his role at Word of Life Outreach Ministries, he is passionate about connecting and mentoring young adults in his community by giving hope inspired by the Word of God. In 2007, Julien discovered his gift while volunteering at a local youth community center in Raleigh, NC, by desiring to teach bible study to young men and women from all backgrounds. From visiting groups of young men in a correctional facility to praying for the sick in ICU, he desires to shine his light where it seems darkest. He describes his single purpose on earth by “Giving hope where there is no hope.”
Julien Folks was born in Newark, New Jersey, and raised in Salisbury, NC, with his two siblings Gavin and Ryan, by their beloved parents, Thaddeus and Eva. He went to Salisbury High School and attended Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, NC. He received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems.
In 2020, Julien was ordained as a minister of the gospel to preach as he may have the opportunity. He lives in Fuquay-Varina, NC, with his beautiful wife Tanisha and their two adorable children.