Monday Morning Update 2/22/10

I've checked my facebook, twitter, and played several rounds of words with friends on my phone while I've been staring at the cursor trying to decide what to write tonight. Sometimes words cannot adequately express life experiences.

Today, Shawn and I shared the story on stage of how God redeemed our marriage. It was rough. It was painful, but also beautiful to be able to finally share about God's grace, mercy, love, power, and healing. We felt as though it was time to share bluntly and honestly about how God can redeem marriages. I debated all day about whether to share our story here as well. I may soon, but to be honest, tonight I am too wiped out emotionally to walk through it all over again. I have cried almost nonstop for the past 48 hours as Shawn and I pieced together today's message. I cried primarily not about the pain, but about how great God has been. Until we took the time to really look back at our past, I had forgotten just how great the healing has been.

I have never seen a response from a crowd like we did today. Pretty much everybody cried. I'm pretty sure I used a whole box of kleenexes all by myself. But what amazed me was the outpouring of love, and the outpouring of relief, and the outpouring of thankfulness that people expressed that we were honest from the stage. I guess I was the most shocked by how grateful people were that we have hurt in our life as well, and that no sin is secret or too big or too bad or too ugly to confess. Our phones have rang all day as people have called to ask us to pray with them about similar issues in their marriages and families. I am excited to see how God will use this in the future of The Crossroads.

I am privileged to be in a church like The Crossroads where we can be real, without condemnation. I am thankful every day of my life that God is letting me be a part of this great adventure. What an incredibly beautiful day!