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You hear it everywhere. "I know, right?"

Is it a question of uncertainty, or is it an exclamation of agreement? Hard to tell sometimes.

Well, the literal translation of this ever-popular saying is:

“Can you believe this thing we are talking about? It goes without saying, and yet we are saying it.”

Or this take on it: "It rolls off the tongue easier than 'Good gracious me, what a startling coincidence! It just so happens that I share a similar belief with regard to this topic of conversation.'"

It makes me chuckle just a bit, how such a phrase has crept into our vernacular. While I was reading Psalm 118 recently, I wondered if the Psalm writer would have used it if he lived today.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Oh let Israel say,

"(I know, right?) His lovingkindness is everlasting!"

Oh let the house of Aaron say,

"(I know, right?) His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Oh let those who fear the Lord say,

"(I know, right?) His lovingkindness is everlasting."

It goes without saying: The Lord is good and His lovingkindness is everlasting. And yet we ARE saying it! Because it is not only worth saying, but shouting and repeating. He is good! His lovingkindness is everlasting!

What aspect of the Lord's character are you giving thanks for today? Let us give it an "I know, right?!" and an "AMEN!"

Hello friends,

You are all on our minds today as we look back on last Friday's post, seeing and hearing about the many marriages that need prayer, encouragement, and intervention. As we've mentioned, we have been praying for these marriages along with all those who have visited the blog, knowing and believing that God wants to restore and bring hope to our dear friends.  

I just wonder if there haven't been some stories this week where God has worked some miracles. I just wonder if there are some of you who have some stories where you know that it is only by the Grace of God and prayers of our friends that you've seen a slight change in your marriage this week, or your husband spoke kind words over you, or you got an apology that you weren't expecting, or were even able to sit down and have a nice family meal together which hasn't happened in a while. 

I think we could use some encouragement, and am hoping that there are some of you who are willing to share what God has been speaking and doing this past week in your marriage or your friends marriages, that we have been praying so diligently for. 

So let's hear it . . . how has your marriage been changed this week for the better? 

I decided that since I’ve been “outed” I might as well come totally clean and just get the help that I need.

Yes. I admit it. My roses are a disaster. They were planted quite some time ago and I was so looking forward to springtime when I was certain they’d blossom into incredible blooms to brighten my front lawn. The reality of the situation has fallen far short of that dream.

And, I’m not happy about it.

I love the springtime, and part of the reason is that I am enamored with the bold bright colors of all the fantastic flowers that make their appearance during this time of year. I’ve long coveted my friend’s garden that hugs her front porch like a cozy embrace and, honestly, my roses were an attempt to mirror that. But it just ain’t happening.

My bushes are scrawny and unimpressive. Granted, a few of them have some buds (and thank God they do or I might sink into a total spring time depression) but the majority of them are just . .. there. They look like a sad kid who is waiting on something. . . someone to come over and brighten up their day. Don’t they know they are supposed to be brightening up mine?!

I was just about to start searching online for some solutions, but thought I might as well just start with you (since I’ve been “outed” and everything). I’m pretty sure that I’ve narrowed down the problem. It’s too much shade. The huge and copious trees in our yard are gorgeous and we’d never chop down a single one, but they are wreaking havoc on my roses that are starving for some endless hours in the sun.

So since I’m not getting rid of any trees, I need to plant something that will flourish in a fairly shady area that only gets a couple hours of sun every day.

Any suggestions?

Come on. Help a sista’ out.

I’m dyin’ over here. . . . and so are these high maintenance roses.

Priscilla

Priscilla's rosebushes are looking a little sad.

While every other Knock Out rosebush in Texas is blooming like crazy, the ones by her driveway seem a bit half-hearted in their attempts to produce their big spring bloom. Their leaves are sparse and the petals aren't nearly as fully developed as they should be.

"What do you think is the problem?" she asked me the other day. She was eying the showstopping roses in front of my house. "You're the rose expert! Tell me what's wrong with them."

"Oh no, I'm no expert," I said. "Don't let these big bushes fool you.  These are the last two remaining rosebushes that I haven't killed. They require no special care and seem to thrive on neglect! If you want my opinion, I think your little guys aren't getting enough sun, but you really should ask a REAL expert - our friend, Bridgette."

Bridgette is an experienced gardener who knows an awful lot about plants. Her rose garden is looking spectacular this spring and she could probably give an informed diagnosis.

But even Bridgette goes to people with more plant expertise than she has when she has a question. She goes to a lady named Vicki, who is a RENOWNED expert on north Texas horticulture. Vicki knows every plant, soil type, specimen, disease, fungus and leaf - backward and forward, up and down....and then some.

I'm glad we have people, like Bridgette and Vicki, who have the knowledge we need to become proficient gardeners. They are generous enough to share their expertise with us gardener wannabe's because they simply love gardening...and love to see others catch on.

Likewise, when I have a question about my faith, I'm really glad to have experts in my life that I can take my issues to. My pastor, my Bible Study leaders, Priscilla....each has studied the Word of God and can offer guidance and help along the way.  But each one will readily point me to The Expert - the One who knows my problems and questions backward and forward, up and down....and then some. He is the source of all truth, and he generously shares it in His manual, God's word.

Do you have people in your life that can help you out when things aren't blooming like they should? If they are the kind that share their knowlege, and then point you to The Expert, then you are indeed blessed. God not only knows your problems and questions - backward and forward, up and down...and then some, but He has the solutions to get you back on the right track.

Ask The Expert.

Rachel

From "He Speaks to Me," p. 49

The boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.

1 Samuel 3:1 NKJV

"The second thing we discover about Samuel is that he was a worshiper. In fact, the phrase "Samuel was ministering to the Lord" appears at least three times before we get to 1 Samuel 3.  This means that worshiping God was a part of Samuel's routine and character.  He knew what worship was all about, and he didn't let anyone or anything distract him from doing what mattered most - giving God all the glory He deserves."

Will you make worship part of your routine and character today?

Ascribe to the LORD glory and stength.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;

worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

Pslam 29:1-2

We've been praying for the couples mentioned in the comments on Friday - about 150 of them! It's both sobering and encouraging to know that each name has been lifted up before our Heavenly Father, in the specific area of their marriages. We know He is infinitely involved when we ask in prayer, and He is intimately aware of each and every situation. Our God is a God of miracles, and we are going to stand with you, believing that He will rekindle lost love, stir each heart and strengthen every commitment.

We love the testimony of Kim V., who said this:

"I praise God for what He has done in my own marriage. We have been married for 14 years and during years 7&8, we almost fell apart. Praise God we didn't!!!! We found a Christian counselor and we each began a journey back to putting God first in our lives. I firmly believe that, in a marriage, the closer you get to God the closer you get to each other. Last weekend, my husband actually shared part of his testimony about this hard time in our marriage with a group of about 75 men at a weekend retreat and I pray he was able to show some of those guys that you can overcome what seems impossible as long as you put God first."

And Juli shared this:

"In 2002 my husband and I stood facing a divorce and my unwilling heart to stay. I wanted to bolt on a marriage that had slowly eroded to nothing but two people living separate lives. (I will add...we had the face of "the perfect family", every Sunday at church) Once we "got real" with some of our church leaderhsip we had a circle of prayer warriors that never ceased to wrap our marriage up in fervent prayer.

Today, my husband and I stand together teaching God's redemptive power over any marriage that is near destruction. We speak God's truth about what marriage really means biblically to those preparing for marriage. We love on others showing them everything can be redeemed - anyone, and any relationship. We sit with other couples over coffee (or ice cream) and encourage and passionately purpose to stand shoulder to shoulder with them thru their journey. We look for those who may be sitting in front of us or in back of us at church. We pray diligently for restoration thru Jesus Christ for any marriage that is eroding. Thank you for this prayer chain. Marriages face a thief, a liar, a destroyer - and his name is Satan. He makes our selfishness sound justified. His game of keeping us so busy - forgetting to make our relationship with Christ and our spouse - is a "relationship wrecking ball". Powerful, diligent prayer (and a good DATE NIGHT at least twice a month) is the counter attack, so here we go!!! Look for those around you - ask God to reveal who may need your encouragement and prayer and he will open our eyes wide open to those who need restoration. Again, thank you for this blog entry it is very close to my heart. IN HIM - Juli"

Karen said, "There IS hope!"

"Just want to offer up some hope from someone that has been there... In October of 2008 my husband had to spend time in jail due to actions he made that came out of an addiction he hadn't completely given over to God during our nine years of marriage. God knew that time in jail was the only way to restore him and our marriage. We were separated for 45 days and during that time God worked on us mightily. He restored what the Enemy meant to destroy.

One of the best things we can do to fortify our faith is to rejoice in the testimonies of answered prayer. We'll be talking about how God has restored marriages later this week, and we'd love to hear more stories. Stay tuned.

Until then, commenter Gail said something that captures what we can do for one another as sisters in Christ - and what happens when we do:

"I posted my own request earlier, but checked back to pray for the whole list of requests, and as I prayed through each one, I began to feel strengthened myself! I feel already a new sense of commitment, a fresh wave of desire for my own marriage, and renewed love!"

Amen, sisters. Let's keep praying.

I'm appalled.

Seriously.

I'm completely and utterly dumbfounded.

My life is filled with friends - young and old, newly married and seasoned spouses, black, white and everything in between, middle class and well-to-do - and an extraordinary amount of them are having the same difficulty.

Their marriages are falling apart.

I almost burst into tears the other day, fresh off of a phone call with a friend who just found out her spouse was leaving her and their four children in search of something "better". Yet, it wasn't just her disturbing revelation that had my emotions in a state of turmoil. It was the fact that her story was just the cherry on top of the mountainous cake that had been dished out to me in recent months of my life. It seems that tons of folks in my world are teetering on the edge of divorce, or are remaining married but in completely passionless and disconnected relationships.

And so, I'm sad and you probably are too. . . if not for your own marriage than for some friends of yours that fit the bill. Their stories are sobering reminders that apart from God's grace, each of us is only a moment away from the enemy getting a foothold in our own relationships.

So today, can we have a prayer chain for marriages? I'm talking about the marriages of people you know or. . . your own marriage.

If you want to record details, you can. (Feel free to be anonymous if need be). Otherwise, just give us two first names (Jane+Jack) and I bet there will be chain of women who visit our blog, who will join me in storming the heavens to ask for peace, joy, passion, wisdom and restoration to be given in abundance.

Let's do it. . .
I believe our prayers can make a difference.
In fact, I know they will.

Priscilla

I had a problem that I'd tried many times, and many ways, to fix. It seemed like no matter what method I used, my problem never really went away. Oh, sometimes I could temporarily solve it, but it always came back. Frustrated and anguished, I gave up ever finding a solution to my situation.

My problem was cold feet.

Yeah, not the kind that makes a person afraid of commitment...THAT would have been an easy one to solve. No, this was really just that: COLD FEET. Specifically, at night. I could not sleep with cold feet, I bothered my sweet husband with them, and suffered with this malady for years. I'd crawl in my bed with chunks of ice for appendages on the end of my legs, hoping they would thaw soon enough for me to get some rest.

Then, a friend mentioned a solution. Priscilla wrote a post about simple pleasures, and said that one of hers was turning on a heating pad to warm her little tootsies at night.

I thought about it for awhile before giving it a try. I wasn't sure that something so simple could be the answer. But finally, in desperation, I pulled out a heating pad that had been reserved for pulled muscles, cramps and stiff necks.

Oh. Mercy. My life has forever been CHANGED, people!

My friend was right. The pervading warmth starts at your feet and goes STRAIGHT TO YOUR SOUL. My feet finished out the winter happy and warm.

I no longer fear the dark winter months of frozen dread. I laugh in the face of dipping temperatures and I already look forward to next winter, when I'll triumph over my cold feet with a click of a switch and a fuzzy pair of socks.

In the past weeks, I've become a Heating Pad Evangelist. I tell everyone I know about this secret. Family members, friends, perfect strangers...and now, untold thousands online. Recently, I loitered in the sock department of WalMart, looking for a chance to save some poor soul from the same fate of eternally frozen feet that I'd been rescued from.

You see, someone shared some good news with me. She met my need by giving me an answer I'd been looking for. As a result of my radical, life-changing experience, I now want to tell the whole world about it. Don't people realize what they are missing??

It's made me think about the REAL Good News of salvation. Do I look for ways to work this truth into conversation in the same way that I look for ways to bring up a silly heating pad? I've been rescued from a fate far worse than cold feet, through the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, and I should be shouting it from the housetops!

I want to be a Heating Pad Evangelist for Jesus. He's changed my life completely, and the least I can do is tell others about Him. He can change theirs, too.

Rachel

How about you? Have you had a "heating pad" experience that inspires you to share the gospel?

Rachel's post yesterday has really got me thinking. Seriously. After I read her thoughtful post, I was stirred and pondered the theme of God's "bigness" (I just made that up) in my own life throughout the remainder of the day.
 
There have been so many times when my  my own story of carelessness or act of foolishness became fertile ground for God's activity. I just stood back in sheer stunned disbelief that He could bring anything good out of the parts of my life that I'm not too proud of. (And Lord knows there are many.)

Reminds me of several Biblical characters that saw this in their own lives:

Moses - He was a murderer, you know? He killed an Egyptian soldier that he saw abusing one of his Hebrew countrymen. He flew into a fit of rage and before he could gain his composure, there was a dead body laying on the ground in front of him. He buried it. . . or so he thought. Someone had seen him and when Pharoah found out, he was set to be executed. On the run for his life, he had to leave behind his position as the prince of Egypt and the palace of comforts that had been a regular part of his life. He headed for the dessert and there, he tended sheep - a job beneath his pay grade and his educational level. Day in and day out, he wandered aimlessly, coping with the consequences of his sin.
And yet. . . that's where God met him in a burning bush, spoke to him clearly and gave him a brand new life mission - to tend another flock; a human one. And right there, in the midst of the consequences of sin, a deliverer for God's chosen people was raised up.

Then there was Jonah. He was a hypocrite, you know. He was the mouthpiece for God to Israel. As a highly respected prophet, he shared God's Word with others and fully expected that they would take it seriously when he did. Yet, he didn't quite know how to meet his own expectations, ‘cause when God's word came to him with clear instructions to go to the brutal Ninevites with a invitation to share in God's mercy, he hightailed it out of town and away from God. (Sidebar: It's always easier to serve God in an advisory capacity.) He was the only prophet in all of Scripture to run from God.

Jonah boarded a ship to Tarshish that was under the control of some pagan Phonecian sailors and polytheistic crew members, who each called to their own god when that fierce storm arose. But the winds were not swayed and the rains did not cease. . .that is until Jonah called on Yaweh. And when those unbelieving men saw the peace that came over those waters, they dropped to their knees and called out to the God of Israel, too. Salvation came to them. . .all because of the rebellion of one man on the run.

Joseph's brothers. They were filled with jealously and envy, you know? They coveted their brother's favored position in the family and had an ax to grind; and they sure planned to. The plot was to kill him - until a caravan of Egyptian travelers came by. Then they just decided to sell him off. At least then, he wouldn't be a bother anymore. Can you imagine how Joseph felt that day; young, tender, trusting, looking up to his older brothers that were sending him away.

Betrayed. That's how he felt. And yet, the greatest betrayal of his life would become the most amazing blessing for his entire family. For years later when famine struck Israel and everyone had to flee to Egypt for nourishment, Joseph was the one who had risen in the ranks in the land, and was the head of the food storage for the entire region.

His brothers didn't even recognize him when they stood before him, begging for food. They didn't even know the eyes looking down at them and the hands outstretched to them, were those of the brother they'd so heartlessly denied.
When Joseph finally revealed himself, how overwhelmed and grateful they must have been to discover that even their worst evil couldn't tamper with the best laid plans of God. For had they not done what they had, Joseph would never have been in position to bless others.

AHHHH. . hear that again - . . . ."even their worst evil couldn't tamper with the best laid plans of God."

Yours and mine can't either, you know?
And I sure am glad.

Priscilla

I hate making mistakes.  When I do, I get really hard on myself.  "Why did I do that?  Why didn't I doublecheck that?  How could I be so dumb?" 

Not long ago, I ran out of gas.  And it was a dumb mistake. I knew I was close to empty, but I was following friends, who were in another vehicle, to a store and I didn't want to make them stop and wait for me.  I just KNEW I had enough to get there and THEN get to a gas station. 

Wrong.

I made it to the store just fine, but when we went to leave, my car wouldn't start.  The day was getting late and we had at least two more stops to make, so I was extra mad at myself.  And embarrassed.  I had to send my friends to a gas station and wait in the hot vehicle for them to return.  I wanted to to beat my head against the steering wheel.  "Why, oh why??"

They arrived back within about 10 minutes, full of smiles and a carrying a full red gas can.

"You'll never believe it!" one friend said, jumping out of the car.  "There was a lady in line just ahead of us who had a gas can, but no money to put any gas in it!  She didn't know what to do.  We told her we had money but no gas can!  Would she loan us her can in exchange for some gas?"

The lady, a foreigner, was elated!  "Oh, yes!  Thank you!  Thank you!"  she exclaimed over and over.  She waited for us to return to the gas station with her can and then threw her arms around me when I got out of the car.

We were the answer to her prayers. 

Because of my mistake.

Can it be that my God is bigger than I thought?  I mean, I know He is glorified through holy living, through sharing the gospel and even through our work.  But can He really bring glory to Himself through our failures?  How could He know I would foolishly run out of gas, and then bring my friends to the rescue of another person at just the right moment in time?

I still don't get it, but maybe I don't need to.  Maybe I can just rest in the fact that God is watching over the whole picture, NOT JUST ME, and can accomplish His purposes in spite of me.

I love serving a Big God!

Rachel

How has God shown Himself to be big in your life?