Thanks so much to all of you who shared a love story with us!
And congratulations to Nancy Rockey for winning the Love and Encouragement collection! (Her comment was chosen by the random number generator.)
This is Nancy’s story…
Wind whipped around the downtown buildings near the lake, swirling the newly fallen snow from the blizzard that had just ended. Burdened by the reason that I’d driven that hair-raising trip to Milwaukee but eager to experience something new, I climbed the courthouse steps with dear friends, a pastor and his wife.
I’d left behind my fiance, with whom I was having issues; big concerns about an upcoming marriage to a guy who was really antisocial. I’d come for counseling, not court, but accomodating their schedule, I’d gone to the courthouse with good friends. They were attending that morning to be character witnesses for a young man who’d been in prison, and was seeking release.
Actually the court experience was boring, so I began hunting for a life-saver in my purse, but God in His wisdom had a greater life-saver in His plan for me. And there he was, 6’3″, thin, dressed in a business suit and humbly standing before the judge. My heart leaped and pounded in my chest, and I could only see the back of him!
We took him, a new Christian, out from the courthouse that day and into the frigid cold of the lakeside. But we had met, and we both knew that destiny stood before us. Our hearts were warmed.
Our wedding was a stark contrast to our day of meeting. That hot, humid August day should have signaled us that our next years would be an inferno of pain. How do two rejected people make a “go” of a marriage?
Seven years, two babies, 4 surgeries and a college degree later we moved into the first parsonage. The pain continued. We loved each other, but just couldn’t get it together.
In desperation we re-entered college for a degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. There we began to learn how our childhood pain was impacting our relationship. We struggled, determined to make our marriage work, On to graduate school and two Ph.D’s, and finally, study, prayer, God’s word, counsel and God’s guiding hand began our healing, because God had a plan to use our mess to become our mission.
For the past twenty-five years (and we’ve been married 45 years) we have spent our lives teaching individuals and couples what God meant in His word in Ephesians 4, where He said we must get rid of resentments, malice, anger, etc.in order to experience love and kindness.
We have created two recovery programs, deep in their scope for intricate understanding of oneself, and teach seminars around the world, helping people to know how to love God supremely and love each other as He intended.
Peace, love and joy fills our daily experience, as in our “Golden” years we continue to teach, to counsel, to write and create, and to live in blessed harmony with each other and with our Life-Saver!
The Love and Encouragement collection includes a Heart and Globe gallery print, a copy of Rain on Me (my devo), a beautiful box of cards, and a Faith, Hope, Love bracelet. Together they’re worth over $100!
And as a thank you to all of you for entering, you can use my friends and family code, holley20, to get 20% off anything and everything you’d like on DaySpring.com!
