Carol and I finished our retreat with the Marriage CoMission at WinShape in Rome, GA, near the Berry College Campus. Besides being an incredibly beautiful setting and pristine accommodations (btw-converted from cow barns...really), the people we met made the 3 days an even greater blessing. Each of us felt some intimidation knowing that we were around couples who've been doing marriage ministry effectively and publishing materials successfully for years. I got over myself and realized with help from my friend Ted Lowe that God is doing great things and being anywhere doing anything to help marriages is a precious gift....do all of it for the glory of God and let Him take care of the "reach" as well as the duration of the ministry. We are working hard to make sure the foundation of The Basic Idea Ministries is strong and our systems are efficient and simple. We are getting there.
I discovered another avenue for finding pastor/leader couples who want and need mentoring. Marriage intensives are 3-5 day deep-counseling environments that have proven very effective for rescuing marriages about to go down for the last count; however, there are very few who have adequate follow-up unless professional counseling is continued. I met two wonderful counselors who do intensives at WinShape and may be interested in working with us to hand off couples after the intensives so we can befriend them, help them continue to grow, and perhaps assist as they start relevant marriage ministries from the "top down" of their organizations and churches. I think that connection alone was worth the investment of the time.
I am also very grateful to the Cathys for making this opportunity available to us and the others who attended. I praise God for allowing us to be there even though I almost blew it with my temporary attitude of "oh, woe is me" and the fear of failure that was its underpinnings.
I almost forgot another critical issue we are trying to wrestle through.....
The whole funding deal is a big one because after December 24, 2010, there is no visible funding source. We have ideas and possibilities, but so far no solid sources .... humanly speaking. We are trusting that God has spoken clearly, we have listened and obeyed, and that His resources will be brought to take care of our personal needs and the ministry needs. We have been and will be working hard to serve the couples, churches, and organizations God sends our way and by His grace we'll get to see Him work powerfully in individuals, families, and communities to take marriage and family relationships to new levels of loving abundance. John 10:10. The stealing and killing and destroying of homes has got to stop. God is greater than our issues and He can and will overcome. We will overcome by our faith in a God who has the power to pull all this off and supply resources at the same time. He must be ambidextrous. :)
Dave for Carol and Jeanne....yes, she is helping us get started and hopefully will be an employee of the ministry too.
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