I thought this ad for Dockers Jeans is a riot, but it also drives home a point:

“Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never had to cross the street alone. Men took charge because that’s what they did. But somewhere along the way the world decided it no longer needed men. Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny.

But today there are questions our genderless society has no answers for. The world sits idly by as cities crumble, children misbehave and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown ups. We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar, and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. It’s time to get your hands dirty. It’s time to answer the call of manhood. It’s time to wear the pants.”

This March, my church will host a men’s weekend retreat based on FamilyLife’s Stepping Up video resource kit.  A foundation of strong men will be a blessing to their families.  Pray for us, and check it out yourself 🙂

Ever have one of those calls that just causes the rest of the world to fade out?  One of my closest friends called me this month with a marriage in crisis.  There were faults on both sides that went back for years and both were tired of fighting.  Call us naïve, but Karen and I have always hung onto the words of Jesus, “what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9) and we knew He was calling us to drop everything and be a part of saving this marriage. “But, what can we do?”  We asked each other.

We started by falling to our knees, not for the last time.  The enemy wants to steal, kill and destroy families (John 10:10) and boy have we felt that over these past few weeks.

We flew our friends down and took them to a Weekend to Remember hosted by FamilyLife (Cru’s marriage ministry).  The speakers were amazing and even met with them privately.  One of the biggest things I learned is that “every moment of our marriage is either intentionally moving toward oneness or else drifting toward isolation.”  By Sunday, my friends renewed their vows publicly and gave Karen and I the honor of signing as witnesses!

Please be encouraged and continue to pray for our friends as they walk the rough road and return to the busy “real world.”  Please also pray with hope for the marriages in your own community!

Jeff asked to bring my camera Full Sail so his mom could be the photographer at an important event (see front page).  I didn’t want to send it.  Nothing personal at all, just what if it got lost?  What if it got broken?  What if the battery got used up and I needed it before I remembered to charge it? (which reminds me…)  It was a special gift for me, why do I need to send MY stuff when Jeff goes out to do ministry and I don’t even get to come?  Wah, wah, wah.  So I said “please don’t ask me” and my darling husband let it go.  A while later, as they were pulling out of the driveway, I felt the Spirit of God impress on my heart, “how about that camera of mine that I let you use?”

Yikes!  I belong to God, and so does everything I own.  I ran and got the camera.  God even graciously gave me a little extra time because Jeff needed to put something in the garage and I caught them at the end of the driveway.  I handed that camera to his mom with a big smile and Jeff must have thought I was crazy!  I explained it to him later, along with how grateful I was that God had made Himself so clear to me and given me that chance to honor Him as the true Owner of all the stuff I get to use.  It’s a good reminder that we are stewards—not owners—of our talents, resources and time.

Karen and I have been repeating a prayer that Steve Douglass, president of Cru, reports to pray daily, “that God would allow me to touch a life that day – that I could be a tangible conveyer of God’s love to some individual in need.”  Now, there are lots of ways for God to use you and I to answer that prayer (by blessing someone financially, or with some skill that God has given us), and He has shown up in different ways almost every day.  But knowing my heart for counseling and Karen’s for loving strangers, I’m sure you can guess what happened the very first day…

Karen was headed out of a hardware store when she had to go back in for something (that was God right there by the way).  When she was going through checkout, she noticed that the cashier, Daniel, was visibly upset.  A few minutes of Holy Spirit conversation later and Daniel had opened up about his struggles with depression, with his
past, with his relationships, and with God.

Some of Karen’s own history really matched his situation (fulfilling what Steve Douglass’ wife, Judy, often says, that “God doesn’t waste anything”).  Daniel and I have gotten deeply into the things of God now.  He and Mary, his pregnant wife, have quickly become good friends.  They’ve been over our house, to church with us and even to a men’s breakfast (well, not Mary to that one :)!  Please pray for them!

A few weeks ago, our pastor was reminding us how important it is for us to be sharing our faith.  “Of course, Lord,” I (Karen) prayed. “I want to share with people, but You know I don’t really go anywhere except the grocery store and doctors’ offices.  Please give me opportunities and bring me people who want to hear about you!”

God answered and, in the past three weeks, I’ve had five spiritual conversations with people at doctors’ offices and the grocery store.  In addition, I met a lady at the grocery store who then came to our church (because of Vacation Bible School) and I got her contact information to keep in touch with her.  Of the five conversations, four included the Gospel and my personal testimony (once was the “short, short version” because the man needed to get back to work!).  The other was encouragement about prayer and God’s plan.

How did I know the door was open for those conversations?  People literally asked me direct questions, including: “Have you always been a Christian?” and “Have you and Jeff always gone to church together?  That must really help your marriage!” and “What is it your husband does?”  Then the Holy Spirit gave me words to share about God’s amazing love and faithfulness.  They said they appreciated talking with me, and several said they’d love to talk more some time.

What does God want to tell you?  That’s between you and Him.  Do you need to pray for opportunities to share?  Do you need to pray for confidence to see yourself as His ambassador?  Do you simply need to remember that you are loved fiercely by a Father who pursues people?  These are always on God’s heart (Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 5:20; Psalm 139).