How Is Everyone Doing??

Is everyone still reading their book? Liking it? Hating it? Wondering why they are reading it? If anyone else is like me, I don't always get my thoughts out during study...guess I'm just a little slow. By the time I get my thoughts together and start to speak up, the subject has changed...or Kristine has made a joke! :-) This is the perfect place to throw out your thoughts, ask questions, or ponder out loud, so we can get to know each other better. In case you aren't familiar with blogs, be sure and look at the bottom of each post. It will show the number of comments for that particular post and when you click on it you can read what others have said and leave your own comments. I know that people are reading, but ya'll are sure quiet!

Please prayerfully consider if the Unveiled Retreat is something God wants you to attend! Unveiled is a concept I have pondered since the idea was first revealed..."And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes form the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Cor 3:18). Is anything more important in the life of a believer in Christ? to reflect the Lord's glory to the world, a world that is ever growing darker? to be transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory? WOW!! That's exactly what I want for my life, but there is a cost! The veils we wear to hide our insecurities, weaknesses, sins, and past failures have to be lifted...not necessarily before the whole body of Christ, but most certainly before our gracious and loving Father who desires to restore us, that we may know the hope to which he has called us. We know that this can be a reality because the one who has called us is faithful and HE WILL DO IT! Let's turn to God together and unveil before Him anything we may be hanging on to that is preventing us from living our lives to the full...

A Testimony To The Power of Prayer in Marriage

Seven or so years ago (am I showing my age, here?) I was invited to MOPS through a mom at preschool. Everett and Marsha Johnson spoke at one of the meetings about marriage and spoke highly of the book "The Power of a Praying Wife". I would describe my marriage as "rocky" at the time. I had three year old twins and my life was stressful. We lived WAY out in the country and my husband worked all the time. I could elaborate on all the emotions that I felt at that time, but I'm sure you can figure most of them out on your own. Things would go well, for awhile, but the things we argued over never seemed to get resolved. I did buy the book, but was pregnant with Garrett and in the busyness of that time, put it up on the shelf without ever reading a page. I didn't look at it again until things began to slow down enough for me to start contemplating my situation a little more closely.

I became overwhelmed to the point that I was DONE! I wasn't happy and decided things would never change in my marriage. I made all the rationalizations in my head and started looking at my options. I read through the classifieds looking at what rent would cost and jobs that were available, trying to picture what our lives would look like, if I was a single mom. I'll admit I felt pretty hopeless at this point. My children's lives would have to change drastically, if I did this because I had been able to stay home with them up to this point. The thought of putting Garrett in daycare at 6 months old nearly broke my heart, but I wanted and deserved more...or so I thought. In God's infinite wisdom, He brought the book to mind again, and with a faint glimmer of hope I began reading it.

I had withdrawn emotionally from my marriage to the point that it was very difficult for me to read the chapters, let alone meditate on what they said and pray the way the author suggested. However, I did desire to please God in my decisions and gradually my desire to obey Him overcame my desire to be free from the constraints of marriage. My feelings for Damian didn't change drastically overnight, the walls I had built were thick and tall, scaling them wouldn't be easy. The only way through was to let God tear them down, brick by brick. In fact, to be honest, I didn't read the book to save my marriage. I read it because I wanted to convince myself that God agreed and that I could end it with His blessing. Obviously that wasn't in God's plans and at the end of it I realized that the battle had just begun. Instead of fighting with Damian, I was going to have to fight for Damian. This is a very difficult thing to do when love has grown cold, so I didn't really focus on Damian at all, at first.

Everything I did for Damian from that point on, I did because I knew it was what God wanted me to do and kept my eyes on Him. I could be the wife and mom God wanted me to be, regardless of whether I felt Damian deserved it or not. Well, through that process God began to change my heart and rekindle the feelings of love in my heart, which was painful at times. There were blessings along the way, though, which God gave to encourage me to continue on the journey. Damian and I have grown together and stronger in our commitment to each other, but we still have a long way to go. I realized that I was expecting Damian to fulfill me in ways that only God, through the resurrection of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit can. Damian is human and imperfect, just like me, but "God will meet all my needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:19) I don't believe that this only refers to physical needs like food and shelter, I believe it also means God will be there to love and comfort, to laugh with, to protect... I just had to realize that my needs needed redefined and I needed to learn to trust that God knows what I really need and surrender my will to His.

This testimony doesn't have a fairy-tale ending and my marriage hasn't really changed all that much, but my view of it certainly has and I know that God will use it to grow my faith and trust in Him. My feelings for Damian have also changed and even though I still get angry at the same things I use to, I know that our love can conquer our differences and forgiveness is a choice that goes both ways. Some people have heard bits and pieces of this story, but for anyone who doesn't know me well, I hope I haven't shared too much. I really felt God prompting me to share a week or two ago, but well, what can I say? I procrastinate on the tough stuff!

I hope everyone is having a great week and that you see God moving in your life!

Jenelle

PS. I'm always available to talk with anyone about this, or anything else for that matter. ;-)