John 6:12 tells us “Gather the pieces that are left over.  Let nothing be wasted.  Todays blog is something that only God could use and not waste.

I would like to focus on one of the desert experiences of our life that God has used to make Dan and I a much stronger couple ready to do His work wherever He can use us.

We bought a construction-based business in 2005.  Dan put everything he had into that business night and day.  Unbeknownst to me, the economy was greatly affecting our business and Dan spent great quantities of energy and time stressing about, strategizing, working to keep our business open during that economic climate.  Well, unfortunately, I thought this meant Dan didn’t need me.  To tell you the truth, I didn’t think he would even notice if I was gone.  I came to the conclusion that after 20 some years of marriage I needed to move on.  I felt as if I had spent my married life not even hitting Dan’s priority list.  Dan thought he was protecting me from worry and stress by not telling me our situation.

Through some God-ordained circumstances, I finally shared this with Dan.  This brought about much heart-searching on both of our parts.  We read some marriage books together, did some bible studies on marriage together, got some counseling, and made a plan.  That plan was to protect our marriage, have planned times together that were sacred to connect and appreciate each other.  We also learned how to truly communicate with each other our feelings, thoughts, and dreams.

When we went to the Missionary Assessment Center in January of this year,  we had to do a marriage assessment and had a session with a psycho-therapist to go over the results.  He was very encouraging in assuring us we had some great strategies built in to help us in communicating and working together on the mission field as a team.

Can God use bad communication skills, bad choices, bad circumstances to further His kingdom?  Yes He can!  I would advise putting together a strategy for communication and togetherness in your marriage BEFORE you’re ready to abandon it, but only He can turn sorrow into joy, neglect into love.

Dan and I often say these days, “How did God get us through that?”, we are in disbelief that we love each other so much and work so well together as a team.  We can’t imagine a life seperate from each other or God’s work.

Todays point is that God can bring beauty from the ashes of your broken spirit and use you more than you ever thought was possible!