Journey

March 2004

We’ve turned the calendar page to March. On this unusually spring-like day in New England, a brilliant red cardinal is easily spotted perched on the bare maple in the woods. Hope breathes through the balmy breezes as the frigid grip of winter begins to loosen its hold on the atmosphere. New life cautiously emerges, as if knowing that winter will stealthily return before she departs “for good”.

There have been many “spring-like” days for us these past weeks, moments filled with hope of new life in relationships, families, and marriages. We’ve traversed the continent twice since the middle of January, as we’ve spoken in Sacramento, San Diego, and Lake Tahoe, as well as at conferences in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Doesn’t seem to matter where we are geographically—certain things are consistent. Marriages and families are under attack throughout the land. We are in need of more churches that will proactively mount a counter-attack with quality teaching and programs aimed at strengthening the family.

This part of the journey began mid-January when we flew to California to speak at Bayside Covenant Church in Granite Bay. It was absolute joy to be in a very alive, dynamic, cutting edge fellowship that is reaching thousands for Jesus in that area. That joy was multiplied by seeing firsthand how God is using our daughter Kari on Bayside’s youth ministry staff team. We left fully charged and energized by our time there.

We flew into Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday, January 18, to spend two weeks in the Doctor of Ministry residency at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In spite of frigid temps that supported the longevity of an unusual ice storm which paralyzed the area, and having to listen to Panther-biased sportscasting for the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, we had a fruitful time of study under Dr. Ray Pendleton and Dr. Sidney Bradley. We were challenged, stimulated, and energized by our further equipping.

Calvary Baptist Church in State College, Pennsylvania, hosted a marriage conference in late January at which we spoke. Though the weather continued to set record cold and snow readings, we were welcomed into a warm community of couples eager to learn more of God’s design for marriage. We also consulted with their newly formed Family Ministries team on how to do an effective ministry. They certainly tapped into our passion there and we had a very productive meeting.

That great weekend ended with the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory, which was a big deal to us! Go Pats!!!

While “in the area,” we drove down to York, Pennsylvania, and spoke for a couples’ night out at Redland Valley Church on Monday evening. Steve and Liz Lane pastor that vital church and it was a privilege to partner with them.

“Engagement Matters” happened February 6 and 7, in spite of more challenging weather. What a delight to spend two days with twenty-five couples wrestling with foundational issues critical to the marriage relationship. We partnered with a great team of Engagement Matters alumni—Larry and Sandra Metaxatos, Nate and Jeannie King, and Ryan and Kelly Plosker—whose availability to the couples and words of testimony and teaching added depth to the weekend. How thankful we are for them!

Black Rock Church in Connecticut hosted our next conference over Valentine’s weekend, and was that a blast! The group loved to laugh and to learn, a great combination and a great reflection on their leadership. We thoroughly enjoyed partnering with Tim and Beth Popadic and their team. The weekend was creatively designed to provide a great time for all and the testimonies shared Sunday morning reflected that God was active throughout the conference. “Spring” was blossoming in lives and many left with hope and resolve.

Back to California to participate in the Professional Athletes Outreach Conference, we spent some great moments with NFL players (including five Patriots couples). We presented a workshop on “In-Law Relationships” which was well received. The highlight of our time there was witnessing one of our Patriots couples making the decision to follow Jesus. What a great moment and great decision!

Lake Tahoe was our next destination, where we joined an enthusiastic, open group of couples from Arcade Wesleyan Church in Sacramento. Kevin and Cheryl Snider, perennial vision casters for this important weekend, did a fabulous job of creating an ambience in each private room which made each couple feel so loved and welcomed. It was a pleasure to serve this group, and an extra pleasure to have our daughters, Lisa and Julie, join us for the weekend. By popular demand, they did an open question-and-answer session on parenting for the group (and they did a great job, according to the feedback).

“True Love Waits—Family Edition” was held the last weekend in February in conjunction with the Ockenga Institute. The conference mushroomed from 58 registrations as of February 18 to a final 250 in attendance on February 28. It was a great day! Surrounded by a great teaching team that included Dr. Wai and Elaine Wong, Brian Dietz and his fiancé Heather Pauling, Kelly Plosker, Lisa Friesen, and Matt Engle, we presented God’s design, which protects our sexuality, and challenged teens and parents to resist a culture which is convincingly deceiving its people. We dealt openly and honestly with hard-to-talk-about issues and had presenters who spoke from positions of both success and failure. We spoke of the great benefits of cooperating with God’s design and of the redemptive work of God to bring hope and healing where His design has been compromised. The response was incredibly positive and attendees left feeling it was a day well spent.

In between these major events, we’ve launched a 12-week Parenting course in the home of Ryan and Kelly Plosker. Their vision was to reach their burgeoning-with-young-children neighborhood for Christ by providing a practical course of parenting. We’ve now met for four Wednesday nights and are loving interacting with these eager young parents—some of faith, some not yet. Their common ground is a desire to parent well and with clarity, which is sometimes elusive in this world that is overindulged with a gazillion conflicting philosophies and plans for parenting.

We’ve also spoken for several Mom to Mom groups as well as for numerous couples’ dinners or dessert events. Counseling takes up at least one day a week. Through it all, we’ve sensed God’s faithfulness in giving us just what we’ve needed in each situation. We’ve also been so aware of the power of the Holy Spirit. We know that we’re incapable of changing lives. Our commitment is to be faithful; His is to be fruitful. What a privilege to see Him bringing spring into the lives of so many.