For all you new parents....

I saw this in a cemetery in Mendocino, CA...

Kinda tells the story of a marriage, doesn't it?

March update

It’s been way too long.  I’m sorry.  I thought the whole blog post thing would help us be better about being in touch with you.  Apparently not.   But I’ll keep working on it.

Let me first off tell you that every day we thank God for you.  And we pray for God’s protection and provision and presence in your marriages and in your homes.   We are deeply grateful for your faith in us.  (I wanted to make sure if you only read one paragraph of this that you read that one!)

Now…as for what we’ve been up to.  We have been in the middle of our “conference season”.  We’ve come to see that we will always have 2 really busy times in our year – the fall (October and November) and spring (February to June) because that’s when everyone wants their marriage or parenting conferences.  It seems we will have time to regroup and rest up in December and summer.  So….we are in the middle of a busy season though there is a bit of a lull here over spring break and in the days leading up to Easter. 

Neil and I have been teaching at all our weekend conferences this year (last year we observed most and taught at only a few) and it has been a wonderful experience.  We say this with no pride – only gratitude – that we can almost literally see God using our words, our stories, our teaching to do His work in people’s lives.  It’s fun to watch couples’ faces and body language absolutely change over the course of their weekend together.   Not all of them of course, some come only to refresh what is an already great marriage.   But others come closed up, angry, distant,  arms crossed, eyes rolling, defensive and dubious and we can see God’s Spirit melt them hour by hour over the weekend.  It’s so much fun to see!

There are an abundance of stories…but I’ll tell you only two.  One involves two of you!  Randy and Allison Sims are faithful supporters of our ministry and had signed up to come to the Weekend to Remember conference in Victoria.  Airline and ferry schedules didn’t work for them to make it so they gave their registration to a couple they know in Portland (a friend of Allison’s from years past).   As Allison wrote: “I really believe that God had this event planned for them all along.” and it truly seemed to be.  Without betraying their confidence, it was a great weekend for the couple with many good conversations and some tears and the husband gave us permission to share his comments after the weekend: “This conference gave us a roadmap to making our relationship work.  We needed this focus, with tools you provided, to get on track.  We were close to a totally dysfunctional marriage.”  He also indicated he had taken a big step in his spiritual life and indicated that they were going to start looking for a church home.   Allison and Randy…sorry that you didn’t get to come to Victoria….but thank you for listening to God’s prompting.  You may well have saved a marriage.

One more story.  Sarah (not her real name) happened to be walking by as we were having our team pre-conference meeting in Niagara Falls around 2 p.m.   She popped her head in the door to ask when the registration booth would open. She said she was so amazed that her husband had agreed to come – he isn’t a Christ follower – that she wanted to get them registered before he changed his mind!  We asked her husband’s name – Will (again not his real name) – and promised to pray for them.   We did, right then.

I saw Sarah at the end of the conference and she was glowing.  She told me that it had been an amazing experience and Will seemed to be softening his heart towards her…and towards God. 

On the plane on the way home Neil and I read through the conference evaluations.  One of the questions on the form is about spiritual commitments made and while there were several people who indicated they had renewed their commitment to follow Jesus and invited Him back into the center of their marriage and family, Neil and I were disappointed to see that there was only one person who had made a commitment to follow Jesus for the first time.   But then Neil turned over the evaluation form and looked at that one name:  Will.   We both got tears in our eyes.  Only one…but a direct answer to prayer.  God still does miracles!

And you are part of making those happen.

Thank you. 

BTW….I am writing this from Nepal where I am finishing up a 22-year commitment with the Leprosy Mission (on leave from FamilyLife for 2 weeks).   We are in our last 2 days of shooting a documentary that will be used to educate and raise money for leprosy work.   Yesterday we went to the poorest of poor villages – of the Nepali Dalit caste – to film a 12-year old girl who has been diagnosed with leprosy.  Because of the stigma attached to the disease, her parents refused to have her diagnosed and now it is too late.  Her little hands have already begun to claw and she has lost feeling in her fingers.  Her father is determined to marry her off this year, before the leprosy either makes her unmarriageable or the dowry he will have to pay skyrockets.  12 years old.  She’s just a baby. Never been to school (too poor), never traveled beyond her village.  But she’s bright and beautiful and full of potential.  It broke my heart.   She’s just one of dozens of stories we’ve encountered about the devastating effects of leprosy…and only one of the dozens of children I’ve wanted to take home. 

(This is Sunita in the one room mud/dung house that she shares with her parents, sister and goat...the one nibbling on my leg.  He kept at it through the whole interview :)

We are so abundantly wealthy in our part of the world.   Not just in material things – but in health, safety and security, dignity, peace, education and opportunity, clean water, clean clothes, a bed to sleep on, healthy food to eat and hope for our children’s  - and grandchildren’s future.  As a woman, I am grateful to live in a part of the world where I am valued and not bought and sold and where I can be educated and treated as an equal. 

OK…I’ll step off the soapbox now.  Sorry!  

Anyway…thank you for sharing what God has blessed you with to support us and to help families.  You are making a difference and we are truly grateful.

With great appreciation,

Neil and Sharol