Encourage, Equip, Empower

Each month our very own amazing writers from South Texas publish a series of blog posts written with you in mind. Our desire is to encourage, equip, and empower you through stories, experiences, and insights from our writers and from God’s Word.

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  • Press In

    The word “prayer” tends to evoke images of demure bowed heads in a silent cathedral except for the low reverent hum of an organ thrumming out “Amazing Grace” in the background.  I think that’s why so many people find it a hard concept to grasp.  “How do I talk to God?”  Sometimes, in church circles,…

  • Hannah Prays

    Are you a woman of prayer? This may seem like a loaded question, but this is something I’ve been asking myself lately. I used to keep a prayer journal with me and write in it every night before bed. I would pour my heart, soul and sometimes tears into those pages. After writing out my…

  • A Father’s Love

    Do you think it’s true that most women end up marrying men that share their father’s traits? Well, in my case I believe it. Both my father and husband are funny, always going back and forth with the “dad jokes”. They are both loving and affectionate. I’ve seen my father give a hug and kiss…

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    The Builders and the Warriors- Praying for Missions

    Before we moved overseas, my husband and I were in full-time ministry in the U.S. for over 12 years. During that time we attended conferences, trainings, and read many books to equip us for the work we were doing. We had a decent grasp on effective, strategic ministry. Honestly, we’d gained enough knowledge that we sometimes did ministry in our own effort, relying too little on the Holy Spirit. 

    We left all that behind in 2015 and moved to a communist, never-reached, developing country where we didn’t know the language or culture and suddenly all our strategy and knowledge meant very little. It was glaringly obvious that we wouldn’t accomplish any good, eternal thing here without the miraculous power of the Spirit at work in us. When laboring to bring the gospel to a place and people who have never had access to it in the 2,000 years since Jesus walked this earth, there are deep spiritual strongholds that must be broken. All the knowledge in the world can’t save an unreached people group, only the power of the Spirit can do that.

    Prayer became our anchor and lifeline. Recognizing that making disciples of every tribe, tongue, and nation is impossible when we try to achieve it by our own efforts was actually freeing. We embraced humility admitted readily that we didn’t know how to break through the spiritual darkness we were surrounded by in this foreign land.

    During our second year overseas I wrestled with burnout, wondering if it even mattered that we were here, struggling to see any fruit from our labor. As we walked through family challenges and spiritual attacks, many days felt like we were trudging through a desert, desperately looking for signs of life and relief. The prayers of our supporters and words of encouragement we received from them (many times without them knowing how badly we needed it) was a sort of manna that sustained us another day. I am truly grateful for how the Lord carries us through the love and prayers of His people.

    It’s a common story among missionaries- arriving with hopeful optimism that is quickly tempered by culture shock and the realization that the way we’ve always done things won’t work anymore. We find ourselves in a foreign country, empty-handed and bent-kneed, confessing our weakness and crying out for help. And from that posture of prayerful surrender, something miraculous happens- we find freedom in realizing God didn’t call us to this distant land because we knew how to change it, He called us here because He’s already at work and is inviting us to join Him in it. When we walk in Spirit-led humility, we are able to see that even in vast spiritual darkness, Light is shining. So we move toward the Light and pray it would be reflected in us.

    The invitation to partner in the work God is doing in the world isn’t only for those with “boots on the ground,” but for all of us who are part of the global Body. Because we serve an omnipresent God who is both with us and with all His people, we have the privilege to take part in His message going forth in lands we will never step foot in. The primary way we accomplish this is through prayer.

    During those first years overseas, the Lord led me to the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah courageously took on the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem that had been torn down and sitting in shambles for years. The enemies of Israel were not happy about the building project, and they conspired against the laborers. In chapter 4, Nehemiah recounts that when they learned of the enemy’s plan to attack their efforts, they had half the people work on the wall while the other half stood guard, weapons ready. The laborers could continue to work knowing that there were people standing with them prepared to fight. 

    As I read this story the Lord spoke to me very clearly that this is how we must approach missions. As missionaries go to lands where sin has caused brokenness and destruction, they will inevitably face the threat of enemy attack. We will not rebuild what the enemy has torn down without opposition. Those of us on the ground actively laboring to bring restoration to brokenness are left exposed to the enemy unless we have people standing guard ready to fight for us and the people we have come to reach. We need an army of people who are willing, weapons ready, to wage war through intercession. Restoring lost people to their Creator cannot happen without the builders and the warriors.

    “Restoring lost people to their Creator cannot happen without the builders and the warriors.”

    You are those warriors, dear friends. Your prayers and petitions on behalf of unreached people are powerful. Your intercession for missionaries may be the difference between them staying on the field and leaving. Doing your part in missions means waging spiritual warfare for the kingdom. I want to leave you with a few practical ideas to take your prayer for missions and missionaries to a new level. As you commit to pray, I believe that our efforts to win the lost will be increased as we take up our weapons and let the enemy know we aren’t afraid to fight.

    Ways to Pray for Missions:

    • When a missionary comes to your church, take a prayer card and commit to praying for them on a specific day each week. Pray Psalm 90-91 over them and their family.
    • Sign up for missionary newsletters, then actually read them and respond with prayer and encouragement.
    • Take one day a week to pray for an unreached people group. Use a website like Joshua Project, Change the Map, or Live Dead to find info on how to pray for UPG’s.
    • Ask your church for a list of the missionaries they support. Start a missions prayer group to contact those missionaries and find out how to pray for them. Meet once a month to pray together. 
    • Fast one meal a week and one day a month for unreached people groups. 
    • Check out Liturgies for a Life Abroad– prayers written for people serving overseas that will give you insight on how to pray for them and the unique challenges they face.
    • Pay attention to where products you purchase come from and pray for the people in that country.

    “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” Matt. 24:14

  • Why Missions Matters

    When I first stepped foot on the soil of the Southeast Asian country I’ve now called home for seven years, I thought I knew what missions was. Our family of five had made the decision to leave our home in Houston and move to a remote mountain town on the other side of the globe. We packed up what we could in ten suitcases and set out on a journey that would teach us, stretch us, and give us a deeper understanding of what it means to make disciples of all nations. 

    Now years later after living and working among those who often have never heard the name of Christ, I can say that many of my ideas on what missions was were wrong or at the very least, incomplete. Every few years when we travel all over America and share about our work and the need for the gospel to go to every nation, I see that there are many others just like me who have an incomplete view of missions. 

    This month I want to break down three very commonly taught responses to missions- Pray, Give, and Go– and help re-frame them with scripture and stories from my own personal experience on the field. I do not claim to be a missiologist, but I don’t think that we have to have a theology degree to engage in biblical missions in a humble, ethical, and Christ-like way. We must simply have a heart that desires to love God and love people, and a willingness to learn how to best do that.

    What is Missions?

    There’s a trend in evangelical circles to say that “every Christian is a missionary.” While I do believe that all followers of Jesus are called to live missional lives and make disciples, to call everything “missions” can actually hurt the efforts being made to take the message of Christ into places where it has yet to go.

    It’s important to know that the term missionary isn’t used in the Bible except in the titles of certain portions of scripture relating to Paul’s journeys to spread the gospel. It comes from the Latin missio which means, to release or send. The Jesuits (an order of the Roman Catholic Church) started using the term missionary in the 1500’s as a name for those they would send into foreign places to spread the message of Christ. Historically, missions has been viewed as taking the gospel (often including humanitarian aid) to foreign peoples and places. Evangelism is a term that better describes what happens when we live out our Christian witness in our local setting- our workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, etc. while missions can be used to describe going outside of our familiar setting to a foreign one for the specific purpose of sharing the gospel.

    God is a Missionary God

    If we go back to the beginning of God’s story for humanity, it is clear that God’s plan always included all tribes, tongues, and nations. The very act of choosing Abraham and his descendants to be God’s “chosen people” was in order to bless all the nations of the earth through them. (Genesis 12:1-3) God’s love for the world was brought to a pinnacle in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ which ultimately made a way for all nations to be restored to Him. After all, “God so loved the world that he gave [sent, released] his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV) It always has been and always will be the desire of God for every people group in the world He created to know Him, and He sent Christ into the world to make a way for us to be reconciled to Him. God’s will is that every nation would hear of Christ’s saving power and have the opportunity to respond to it because, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NLT) If that’s His will, it should be our will, too.

    Why Missions Matters

    When everything becomes “missions” it’s easy for us to think we are fulfilling the Great Commission by inviting our neighbor to church. And that’s a huge part of it…but it’s only a part.  The reality is, the majority of people in our world have no Christian neighbor to invite them to church. When we label evangelism as missions, we run the risk of assuming we’ve done our part by engaging in personal evangelism while neglecting the reality that there is a massive imbalance of Christian workers and witnesses in the western world vs. the parts of the world considered “unreached” and “unengaged” with the gospel. 

    According to The Gospel Coalition, There are 5.5 million full-time Christian workers in the world. 

    • 75.9% work in a context of a majority, or large percentage, evangelical Christian population
    • 23.7% work in a context of greater than 2% evangelical Christians
    • Only 0.37% work among the 3.37 billion unreached, where less than 2% are evangelical Christians

    This statistic was one of the major factors in our family’s decision to transition from serving the local church in America to serving in an area of the world considered “unreached.” The reality is, there are billions of people in our world that will live their whole lives without ever hearing the name of Jesus or encountering a Christian. There are whole people groups with no scripture in their language. Even if someone in an unreached people group had a dream revealing Jesus to them, they most often have no local church or Christian within hundreds of miles to teach them how to follow Him. This is why missions matters. 

    Missions is a massive task, but one we don’t take on alone. As we partner with our compassionate God and the global body of Christ, we can find hope that our participation in this movement to see nations reconciled to God can and will bring eternal change. Together, we can make His name known in every corner of the globe.

  • Return to Beginning Efforts

    We’ve spent this month on the blog talking marriage. We’ve realized how our unions usually start out with smooth sailing, but we find ourselves on the rocks far too quickly. We discovered unlikely instructions in Revelation for our rescue efforts: remembering the heights, repenting from sin, and today, we our returning to beginning effort.

    “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love. Remember the heights from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from it’s place.” (Revelation 2:2-5)

    What does it mean to return to beginning effort? Can we even see how far off course we’ve wandered?

    I was recently chatting with a friend before church. She’s been married a few years and they had gone to a wedding the night before. She lamented how they were home by 7:30pm. They left before the cake and the dancing; arguably the best parts of the wedding. When I asked if her husband liked to dance, she insisted: “He did when we were dating, but he never wants to dance now.”

    Isn’t this the way marriage goes? We’ll do just about anything to woo our spouse, but once the ring is on their finger, we get lazy. We stop dancing and we leave before cake. Our pursuit falters. We don’t repeat the things we did to win them.

    Healthy marriages require consistent, sustained effort in the same direction: towards one other! And towards God! This means we need to intentionally make room for romance. Fix our hair, do our makeup, put on that little black dress. Husbands: get out the date night cologne and hold open a door or two. Woo our spouse. Stay for desert and dancing.

    Think back to the great lengths you went to to win your spouse. Whatever we did to snag them, remains helpful in keeping them! Return to that! If they were once worth pursuing, aren’t they still worth keeping? Valuable personal investments need ongoing attention. A home, a vehicle, the yard, even a boat requires routine maintenance. Is it any wonder the a living organism like a marriage does also?

    When our marriage is on the rocks, we need to return to beginning efforts. Something we did at first, likely without even realizing it, was slowing down to see our mate.

    Rob’s and my favorite Christmas movie is The Family Man, with Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni. We love this movie because it is the very last movie we saw as a couple, before we became a family.

    Nicholas Cage plays Jack, this rich, narcissistic, womanizing, investment broker who is offered a glimpse of what life might be like if he hadn’t traded love for money. Jack is transported to a decade old marriage complete with two kids and a career as a tire salesman. He struggles to adjust, but the affections of his wife are relentless. The audience holds it’s breath as Jack falls in love with his wife all over again.

    The very best line in the movie is when he’s looking into deep her eyes and telling her just how beautiful she is to him. And she says “How can you do that?” And Jack says “What?” and she says “Look at me like you haven’t seen me every day for the last thirteen years?”  

    Song of Songs 4:9 says it like this “You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace.” 

    We need to let our spouse capture our gaze and our heart again, the way they did at first. We need to daily recall all that they set aside to do life with us. And we need to treasure the good gift given in them.

    Something that has made a huge impact in maintaining my own marriage is what we call our evening routine. When Rob and I crawl under the covers each night, we snuggle close and take turns sharing our low for the day, our high for the day, a blessing and a prayer. 

    Sharing our lows and highs creates a window into our souls: revealing good and bad alike. It also releases a little of the steam that naturally builds up as we deal with day-to-day pressures and frustrations. There’s a Swedish proverb that says: “A shared joy is a doubled joy, shared sorrow is half a sorrow.”  We have found this to be true.

    Then we take turns sharing how our spouse blessed us that day. Rob and I noticed that sometimes what we believed was blessing each other, maybe wasn’t being received as a blessing. When we share what actually blessed us, it communicates appreciation while reinforcing beneficial behavior.

    Lastly, we pray over one another and any needs on our hearts. Turns out it’s pretty tough to stay angry at someone when you hear them pour out their heart to God on your behalf each night. Prayer is the most powerful defense we have against divorce. Current statistics tell us that more than 95% of couples who pray together daily stay married. I like those odds!

    This evening routine has become a touch point for us. We each feel seen, heard and treasured through this simple practice. Honestly, Rob and I were on the rocks when we decided to implement it and, at first, it was a sheer act of will. But as we persisted in pursuing each other, we discovered our marriage was healing. We found our way out of the churning seas and back into Eden. Low, High, Blessing, and Prayer: it’s a strategy that has worked well for us.

    We celebrate 25 years of marriage this May. ❤

    We began this blog series with the Swiss Family Robinson shipwrecked on the rocks. How did they survive? They chose to work together through their issues. They refused to give up on each other even in the midst of their catastrophe. They built a raft from sawed-in-half barrels and everyone pitched in as they made it safely to shore where they built a new life in paradise.

    When God rescues our marriage from the rocks, it may look different afterwards. Roles may change. Communication increases. Appreciation will grow. This is new territory we learn to navigate together. It’s appropriate; marriage is meant to be an adventure!

    The Swiss Family Robinson left that shipwreck and their life on the island looked drastically different after their time on the rocks. They had a deeper respect, affection and dependance on one another on the island then they did previously. They enjoyed a more intimate relationship than they did in regular society. In fact, when they had the opportunity to return to regular civilization, they declined. They grew to love what they became more than what they had previously possessed.

    God longs to move us past the rocks and into a deeper and sweeter relationship with our spouse. He’s clearly given us the tools; remember the heights, repent from sin, and return to beginning effort.

    “When the foundation is sure, the storms don’t matter.” (Rend Collective)

    Lord, we thank you for the gift of our spouse. Please help us to treat them as such. May mutual love and respect reign in our hearts and homes. Help us to return to our first love and live there. Amen.

  • Repent From Sin

    We’ve spent the last several weeks talking about rescuing marital relationships from the rocks. We can all agree: marriage is not for the faint of heart. We are flesh and blood people, terribly prone to injury and insult. We’ve agreed with our spouse to float the waters of life: stormy, rocky and even pirate-infested. Now we have to figure out just how to survive it. This month on the blog, we’re unpacking tools to help us navigate rough waters. Last week, we remembered the heights. This week we’re repenting of sin. But first, a Bible story.

    “This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching form India to Cush.” (Esther 1:1 NIV)

    Many of us are familiar with the story of Esther and her extraordinary timing and bravery on behalf of the Jews. We probably haven’t invested much mental energy on Xerxes and the queen that came before the famous one. Their story is told in chapter one.

    King Xerxes threw a party, but not the paltry affair you’re thinking of. Xerxes was essentially peacocking: all his wealth on full display. For half a year, he paraded and preened in front of his friends and neighbors. At the end of this six month spectacle – I’m tired just thinking about it – he threw a meal to end all meals; larger than life, incredibly opulent feast-for-the-senses sort of dinner party. Xerxes set no drink restrictions so he and his buddies got totally plastered. Meanwhile, his wife, Vashti, was hosting the feminine counterpart to his highfalutin’ hoe-down. 

    It was from this drunken stupor that Xerxes demanded his queen’s presence. Understand, he wasn’t asking for a pop-in. He wanted her in full royal regale, crown and all. In fact, original text suggests he was expecting her in only her crown, which would be terribly humiliating for a woman of her stature.

    I feel for this wife! Six months of party-hosting had culminated in a final grand gala. This royal lady had to be wiped out socially. Her husband’s impulsive order to appear before him and his drunken friends pushed her over the edge. She refused her king. And in response he did away with her. Executed or banished, either way the marriage was over.

    Days or months or years later, Xerxes anger subsided and by the next chapter, he had regrets. Ruling a kingdom without a queen is a lonely and difficult gig, I’m sure. Xerxes did what most divorced folks do: he made a second attempt at marriage without examining the remains of the first.

    This is where I play the wondering game. I wonder what would have happened if he had slowed down in his drunken fury long enough to reconsider? What if he had consulted scripture or a priest instead of his inebriated advisors? What if he had sought out Vashti and apologized for being inconsiderate by piling another thing on her? 

    Let’s consider the other side of the conflict, too. Vashti blatantly disregarded her husband’s wishes. She embarrassed him in front of his friends. She very well may have held contempt for him in her heart.

    There are two sides to every story and blame enough to go around in every marriage. Imagine with me, what a little repentance could have accomplished in the royal couple’s union. Humility and heartfelt apologies go a long way in restoring relationship. Which brings me to our second step in rescuing marriage from the rocks: repentance.

    We fear repentance because we wrongly believe it will bring even more shame. The truth is, repentance relieves shame. Confession actually sets us free. Admission of guilt offers an opportunity to begin again.

    So where do we begin? Repentance will require our serious evaluation of our own contribution to the current state of things. Ask the Spirit of God to reveal your heart issues.  

    Here are some good questions to consider:

    Have I neglected this relationship? 

    How have I taken my spouse for granted? 

    Have I been insensitive to their feelings or needs? 

    Have I escalated when I should have de-escalated?  

    Am I putting my own needs above my spouse’s needs? 

    Have I nagged? 

    Have I been disrespectful? 

    Have I ignored completely, have I shut my spouse out?

    Have I spoken or behaved in an unloving manner?

    What contribution is my sinful nature making in our marriage story?

    Prayerfully ask these questions and repent when sin is revealed. I like the way Romans 12:18  puts it; “If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live at peace with all everyone.” 

    Everyone includes your spouse. Paul, via the Holy Spirit, is instructing us to live at peace; harmlessly and inoffensively with all people. Even the people closest to us.

    I have always found it interesting the way he frames this; If it is possible, as much as it depends on you. It’s doubly reinforced that we should do everything short of sin to get along with others. There aren’t a lot of outs for bad behavior in relationship. Especially when that other shares our home and our bedroom and our flesh. They are a pretty important ‘other.’ You might even say they our most significant ‘other’.

    We should probably spend more time praying for our spouse than any other earthly relationship because there is no union that Satan would like to destroy more than our marriage. If he can sink the couple, he can likely sink the kids. In fact, sunken marriages send a crashing waves throughout a family, community and eternity.

    In the coming week, I encourage you to take a long, prayerful look at your contribution to your marriage. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any of your shortcomings. And then repent because healing follows repentance. Watch God restore what sin has threatened to destroy.

    “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16 NIV)

    Lord, today we realize we are heavy contributors to the dysfunction in our marriage. Help us, Holy Spirit, to see ourselves accurately and confess freely. Restore what sin has attempted to destroy. Renew our relationship and begin healing in our home. Amen.

  • Remember the Heights

    “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love. Remember the heights from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from it’s place.” (Revelation 2:2-5)

    Before we wade into today’s discussion about rough marital waters, we need to interpret this scripture in context. It was originally written to the church at Ephesus. Now, Ephesus had a rich and beautiful history; Paul had planted it. Aquilla and Priscilla, along with Apollos served there. Young Timothy had also worked in Ephesus. Historic tradition even places Apostle John, the Revelator ministering there for a season. 

    But two generations had passed since their planting and the church’s appetite for the things of Christ had waned. They were following a routine of godliness, but their hearts weren’t in it. They were going through the motions of church, but their actions were empty and inattentive.

    Could the same be said of your affections for Christ today? What about your spouse? Are you still going through the motions of Christ following, or being married, yet your heart isn’t in it?

    Today’s text is absolutely about the church, our fleshy tendency to move toward apathy and God’s implicit instructions to address these conditions. At the same time, we can see implications for our marriages, also.

    God knows our deeds. He sees the pirates and the storms we talked about last week. He’s aware of the rocks. He knows that life is not easy. But He’s given us our spouse as a blessing and a helpmate. Yes, sometimes they act or speak like wicked people. Sometimes WE act or speak like wicked people. Sometimes we don’t behave like the Christians we all claim to be. God is aware of the lies or the breaches of trust. But He’s asking us to endure for Kingdom’s sake! Don’t grow weary.

    Even in routine faithfulness; God has a bone to pick with us. We’ve lost our first love. We’ve allowed the flame we carried for our spouse to flicker. The thrill is gone. We’re on the rocks. We need a plan and total cooperation to experience God’s rescue.

    In this scripture, we see three very distinct instructions for marriage rebuilding.

    1.) Remember the heights.
    2.) Repent from sin.
    3.) Return to beginning effort.

    Let’s dip our toes into the first instruction: remember the heights. Years ago there was a popular song with lyrics that every couple falling in love might relate to:

    I am thinking it’s a sign
    That the freckles in our eyes
    Are mirror images
    And when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned
    And I have to speculate
    That God Himself did make
    Us into corresponding shapes
    Like puzzle pieces from the clay
    They will see us waving from such great heights

    Come down now, they’ll say
    But everything looks perfect from far away
    Come down now but we’ll stay

    (The Postal Service)

    Marriage begins at dizzying altitudes, doesn’t it? We fall in love and commit to forever but the elevation changes quickly. Life has a way of bringing us back down to earth and all too soon the man you married becomes the man who makes you mad.

    The first step in surviving rough marital waters is remembering the heights. Take a few moments and think back to the beginning of your story. How did you meet your spouse? What did he look like? Did he approach you or did you approach him? What special details stand out? 

    Prom; 1997.

    Remember dating. Remember the wonder of discovering the person God designed for you. Take some time and go through old letters, memorabilia, and photos. Recall early experiences and those first fluttery feelings. Maybe even recreate a few of those moments, revisit a location historic to your story. Rewatch the movie from your first date. Return to the restaurant where you first fell in love. 

    As you reminisce; remind your spouse of these things. Let those memories stoke the coals of your love today. If we don’t, we get old and busy and we forget. The person we love slides into roommate status or worse. 

    Growing up, I loved the Cosby Show. The Huxtable home seemed so normal and steady; I tuned in for all eight years. The kids dealt with homework and peer pressure. Mom and Dad worked hard but made time for family. They all ate meals together and had hard conversations. There was a lot of singing and dancing and laughter.

    When our kids were in elementary school, we broke out the Cosby Show for family entertainment. It hits different as a married mom of two. I realized quickly that Cliff and Claire’s beautiful family had everything to do with their strong marriage. They paid attention, they celebrated one another and they recalled their origin story often. I can think of one particular episode where Cliff painstakingly recreates the meal from their honeymoon. Sadly, he winds up sick in bed while Claire delights in his extravagant display of affection. 

    I know it’s only a television show, but a husband and wife who regularly return to their roots stay rooted. Cliff and Claire had told the story of their Caribbean meal so many times that each of their five children could repeat it verbatim. It’s clear to me that their marriage stood through the storms of life because they remembered the right things. 

    A happy union will require a lot of memory work: dismissing offenses and rehearsing the heights. Make time to visit the happy moments in your marriage often. Run mental fingers over the raised edges of your story and let them lead your heart toward your husband again and again.

    “I remember the days of old. I ponder all Your great works and think about what You have done.” (Psalms 143:5 NIV)

    Lord, forgive us for forgetting first love. Life gets in the way and we get waylaid from what’s most important. Help us find time to remember the heights this week. Remind us of the origin story. May we revel again in our spouse. Rescue us from the rocks. Amen.

    Here’s that song if you are interested. Maybe share it with your hubby. 🙂

About STX Women

We are the Women’s Ministries branch of the South Texas Assemblies of God.

Women across South Texas desire a community where we celebrate each other and share each other’s burdens.

Together, we walk out our God-given purpose in our family, church, and community!

Our passion and love for Christ unite us to reach the lost at home and across the world. 

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