The "up side" of 2011: (some of it)
We have had 4 paychecks in a row!!! Woohoo! I believe that is 10 of 26 checks for the year. Don't hear this as a complaint or a bummer. God's provision for us has come in many forms and from many places and people.
Seeing how many people believe in us and what God has called us to do brings a thrill to our hearts and a lump in our throats when we realize the responsibility to use wisely the resources God sends through others.
We saw progress in every couple with whom we've worked in mentoring this year! Not all are "out of the woods" but at least they are together still walking in the woods versus running through the woods in opposite directions. Real people have real problems and need God's real solutions from real people who love them and will patiently speak truth when the doors open to the heart.
The wonderful church in North Carolina is moving toward their own effective marriage ministry after a successful launch of an Intimate Encounters class. Thirty or so couples completed the course, and we heard several of their stories of love-filled redemption when we were on location the last few times we taught the class.
The pastor at the North Carolina church gets it and wants his family, church, and community to get how loved they are and how to love others into Christ's kingdom. He knows how the enemy of Christ hates it when the Church loves as Jesus commands and empowers, especially when the one doing the loving actually starts at home going out to serve from a base-station of authenticity and Holy Spirit power.
We got to meet a few of the couples on a deeper level and watch God transform and deepen these marriages, changing the future family tree forever. Some have begun the steps to invite Jesus to heal their pain from the past and replace dysfunction with the freedom only Christ gives.
Our conferences or speaking engagements in Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania; Young Harris, Georgia; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Rome, Georgia, Rock Hill, South Carolina; Austell, Georgia; Princeton, Kentucky, Concord, North Carolina, and in Kingston, Tennessee provided environments for God's hand to move in many couples to, as one lady stated it, "see God work more in a short time than she'd ever seen". Another pastor/leader admitted, after hearing another couple's story of God's healing transformation after an affair, shared humbly that "he didn't know God still did those kinds of miracles".
Mentoring several young men and being guided by trusted advisers, some on our board and some not, have resulted in deeper heart connections and friendships. No one person possesses the wisdom and maturity needed to lead a ministry, guide a family, and handle relationships adequately. We need each other. God designed the Church, the body of Christ, to function as a loving family who speak "the truth in love" and who "comfort one another" as well as "exhort one another".
I have believed for many years that a family or a Christian-led organization should function in health, care, and wisdom from God and show itself quite a different environment from what most people experience in their work place and family systems. That is the difference Jesus makes!
The "down side" of 2011: (some of it)
In my own family (extended family) we have and are experiencing some really difficult days. Among the mentor couples with whom we work, their struggles are crushing at times. Feeling rejected by those we love - in the family and outside it - as we watch unwise choices result in great pain for many leads to suffering in our hearts as well.
Struggling at times with trusting God for financial resources to keep going gets tough at times.
Seeing new responsibilities or opportunities arise and trying to discern which we do and which ones we pass by causes us heartache, since we'd like to work with and help, where possible, everyone we meet.
Seeing my family struggle through these challenges and being rejected or feeling like a "failure" when couples continue to suffer or churches focus resources on everything but marriage and family bring a level of internal conflict that must be addressed, faced, and defeated.
With all that said, our marriage is stronger; our family, more resolute; our focus, more defined; our financial situation, less stressful; our faith, more finely tuned; and God's hand, more clearly seen and felt. We believe we are doing what God has clearly called us to do in a way that only He can get the honor and praise.
I believe this to be true because financially we have nothing but His provision; ministry-wise we have no leverage or network except what He has brought and is bringing. Though we don't know all God is doing, we are amazed to see Him at work by His Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, changing hearts, lives, families, ministries, and legacies to His glory.
So, bring on the roller coaster ride of life. We are in God's keeping and care. He has been and is faithful to keep His promises. He loves us and we prayerfully serve others to introduce them to Jesus and His love so we and they can "live loved and give love freely....starting at home".
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