Wisdom beyond his Years

Michael is constantly amazing me with his outlook on life and biblical issues. Here is the story.


Note: This journey has been filled with Godincedences - explanation: We don't believe that things just happen (coincidence), but instead that God provides and has impeccable timing. So we like to use the term Godincedence.

As many of you know we had a thriving church family at Alpine Church of Christ in Longview, TX. Service opportunities were abundant, the large amount of dedicated young couples provided friendships that constantly gave encouragement and support to one another; and the strong and enthusiastic children's ministry was the perfect environment for my children to learn about God, meet wonderful friends, and start a foundation for their personal faith. Then (long pause) we moved to Corpus... (music: dun dun duuuuun) Ok it's not that bad, but I wanted to make a good transition.... :)
We struggled to find a church family and visited many different congregations. Then for some reason one of the congregation that we had visited early on and had decided it was not for us, was on my heart, so we visited one more time. What we had perceived as a very "traditional" and stagnant church seemed to have a new passion. So we decided to check it out a little more. Over the next month we got to know many of the members, several of them that have now become our best friends, and grew a love for the congregation and the needs it had and service we might could offer. After about a year, the congregation came to a "Y" in the road. Much of the congregation was looking for growth, but there were others that were happy the way it was. It seemed like all of a sudden everything came to a screeching halt, and the "traditional" stagnant family was back. The young couples class that we had been working on with two other couples was not growing, nor was the children's ministry. Two ministries that are obviously close to my heart. Worship became blah and church became a duty... all the passion I had for corporate worship and service to our church family was quickly vanishing. This period seemed to drag on for a long time and Michael and I were both discouraged. However, I was to a point that I was ready to throw in the towel on this "stagnant" congregation and look elsewhere. I felf like we could not serve in a congregation that snuffed out opportunities and closed doors. Michael, although discouraged, encouraged me to keep my faith and trust that God would provide. "Lets give it a little more time." and He was right. In a matter of months, so much has changed, so much growth has taken place. We have had a series of parenting and marriage classes that have proven to be an outreach to the community. The Wednesday night children's program "Kid's Town Rocks" has excited William and the teachers in that ministry have been such a blessing to our family. This has also encouraged our Wednesday night attendance and brought us closer to many of the young families... which most of them Godincidentally have recently moved to the area. I was also Godincidentally reintroduced to a childhood friend, that moved to the area over the summer, who's husband is now our college minister, another new ministry and door for growth and teaching. I have seen so many brought to God over the last several months, and the passion for God is now visible in our church family. The growth and passion for those who had become disengaged aka Me.. is reaffirmed. I could go on and on with details, but I won't... I mostly wanted to tell this story to encourage any of you who might be struggling with this yourself... God is listening, just keep trusting in Him, continue to keep your personal study going, and His answer will eventually become visible to you. Remember God has impeccable timing. And also remember Gods, biblical order. Trust in the leaders around you. In corporate worship and in your personal household. Michael truly is the head of our household in every way and I am so blessed to have him. Although we are a team, and make so many decisions together, I am so glad he put his foot down on this issue, and reminded me that I had taken God our of the equation. Michael showed great wisdom to me during this time, and encouraged me to wait and give God a chance to work. To not limit God's abilities to open hearts and provide what we needed. I was reminded through all this to trust in God and also to trust in my husband and partner God blessed me with, the head of our house hold, and spiritual leader of our family. After all this I pray that we are all able to reach others around us, to be an encouragment to one another, and that God will provide us with wisdom beyond our years to handle opportunites that come our way in a manner that opens hearts to His work.