“The opposite of drift is intentionality—setting your eye on something and moving toward it with purpose.”
In this deeply moving episode of Delay the Decay, Dan Harty sits down with entrepreneurial couple Jeremey and Amy Houlton to unpack a story marked by courage, calling, and costly faith. From years in vocational ministry and church planting to financial hardship, identity loss, and rebuilding from the ground up, the Houltons share what it looks like to keep moving forward when the life you thought God was building suddenly falls apart.
This conversation explores what happens when ambition collides with suffering—and how gratitude, clarity, and perseverance can reshape a life. Jeremey and Amy talk candidly about entrepreneurship, marriage strain, living with uncertainty, and the life-altering moment of Jeremey’s stroke. Through it all, they reflect on how faith gives meaning to suffering, why drifting is so easy in midlife, and how intentional living can realign both marriage and mission.
00:00 Introduction to Jeremey and Amy
05:40 Cutting out hustle culture and learning to slow down on purpose
08:00 Sleep, routines, and creating rhythms that support recovery
11:00 Why drift happens—and how intentionality counters it
13:30 Seminary, church planting, and the call to vocational ministry
16:40 When the church plant ended and everything unraveled
18:45 Financial loss, identity collapse, and starting over from scratch
21:00 Discovering entrepreneurship through crisis
24:00 Paying the bills vs. pursuing meaningful work
28:30 Why working in separate careers strained their marriage
32:30 Living slower without losing ambition or calling
40:25 Jeremey’s stroke: the night everything changed
45:00 Faith, prayer, and peace in the ICU
49:00 How suffering reshaped their theology and view of church
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Thank you Jeremey and Amy for being guests on Delay the Decay!
Find them on social media:
- Jeremey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremeyrhoulton
- Jeremey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremeyrhoulton/
- Jeremey on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeremeyRHoulton/
- Amy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyluciahoulton/
Delay the Decay is a podcast for unashamedly ambitious people who want to live longer, better and deeper by prioritizing what’s really important in life.
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Dan Harty is a coach, entrepreneur, and former pastor, who helps people build resilience in body, mind and spirit by emphasizing faith, fitness, and fighting the natural decay with daily habits rooted in biblical truths. Find Dan on social media:
- Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dharty123/
- Dan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanHarty/
- Dan’s Guides: www.danhartyguides.com
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