I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.
Philippians 1:3 NKJV
(Photo by Lisa Mims Photography)
This post and its message are long overdue. It’s high time for me to give a BIG shout out to my husband, Dave!
We’ve been together since we were 14 years old! Yep! Forty-two years!!! Seven years dating and, this year, we will celebrate 35 years of marriage! I can hardly believe it! It certainly has not always been easy, sometimes downright hard! But God has been gracious indeed and here we are.
There are many things I could say “thank you” for where Dave is concerned but for now I want to say a very big and heartfelt thank you and honor my husband for making it possible for me being able to do what God has called me to do. Twenty-two years ago, I came home and told my husband I believed God was calling me into ministry and, in order to answer that call, I would need to quit my full-time job and take one that paid far less and with no benefits. Without hesitation or argument, he agreed and proceeded to support me in that calling for the next 20 years.
A couple of years ago, I again felt the Lord’s calling. This time, to give up my full-time paying job in ministry and start a non-profit Biblical counseling ministry where there would be no paycheck for the foreseeable future. Disclaimer: With Dave being self-employed and me being in ministry for the last 20 years, we were not sitting on any kind of a “nest egg” for resources! This calling of God would require total trust and faith in the Lord (again) to provide not only for the launch of a new ministry but also for our own personal finances. But defying all logic and wisdom, once again, without hesitation or argument, Dave, not only agreed and pledged his support, but was willing for us to personally foot the bill however we could to get this nonprofit up and running.
Isaiah 61 Ministries, Inc. just passed its 2nd birthday of officially being open for ministry. In typical fashion, God has gone above and beyond our wildest dreams in providing for the needs of the ministry as well as for our own personal needs. He is so good and I/we are so very grateful! But I am also so very grateful for a husband who has gone above and beyond in order for me to continue to serve in a ministry and, presently, in one that is not yet able to pay me a full-time salary. Dave has continued with his own computer business but, to compensate for my lack of income, he has also worked several different side jobs to help fill in the financial gaps. Not only has he been willing to sacrifice and work some pretty physically demanding jobs, but he has done so without complaining. (Well, maybe a little complaining at having to get up before the sun comes up at times!) Dave has also given countless hours in renovating our new office space not to mention the one we currently occupy. Of course, Dave is my computer and technology guy but he is also my go-to handyman and has been my plumber, my electrician and my HVAC repairman, saving me hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars. In short, there is no way I could have answered the call into ministry and absolutely impossible to have served the Lord the past 22 years without my husband behind me in so many ways!
Oh, Lord God, how I thank you and praise you for all Dave has done, been, given and sacrificed in order for me to serve You in ministry! And how I thank you and praise you for your grace, mercy, faithfulness and strength that has sustained us all these years in marriage, more than once bringing us through some pretty dark valleys! You are indeed an awesome God!!! In Jesus Name, Amen.