For the Glory of God through Godly Families

Posts Tagged "praise"

Great first weekend for FIREPROOF!

Posted by on Sep 30, 2008 in Culture, Marriage, Ministry | 0 comments

Here’s a press release detailing the opening weekend for Fireproof, which was #4 overall for the weekend at $6.8M. This was the highest opening weekend for any film this year opening in less than 1000 theaters with the exception of Hannah Montana’s 3D concert. It beat many other film that opened in 3x as many theaters.
As a result, Samuel Goldwyn films is planning to expand the release to over 1,000 theaters in the coming weeks. Praise God and thank you for supporting and praying.
If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to take advantage of the film. It really is a great movie.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080929/lam523.html?.v=20

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Photos from Mackinac

Posted by on Jul 25, 2008 in Marriage, Personal | 0 comments

Karana and I are getting to spend some time at the marvelous Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan. We are here as part of a FamilyLife event, sharing about eMentoring and some of the other new things going on at FamilyLife with potential donors. What an awesome creation of God! Best of all, our Awesome God arranged this on the weekend before our 20th wedding anniversary (July 30th). Isn’t God good?

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What our Constituents told us this Month

Posted by on Apr 11, 2008 in Marriage, Ministry | 0 comments

Some recent comments from changed lives

“Our experience at the FamilyLife Weekend to Remember is never the same! Each year, the Lord gives us something different to work on so that our already wonderful marriage can be even better. Since we have gone quite a few years and are older and have been married over 44 years, we usually go with two goals in mind: to add to our own marriage and to minister to someone else as the Lord directs. This year, goal number two was such a blessing that we are still overwhelmed! As you know, on Friday nights they recognize those who are the newest newlyweds and those who have been married the longest. We were third in line for the longest. Where does the blessing come in?? On Saturday morning, a couple came up to us and they were married last May. They told us that they really admired us because we had been married all these years and still were coming to a conference to make our marriage even better. We shared with them our story and gave God the glory and went about our weekend as usual thinking that was the end of it. Well, the Lord wasn’t through yet. On Sunday morning, when they passed out the Marriage Covenant promise pages, they hunted us up to sign it instead of the speakers or their own pastor. WOW. God is so awesome, and we are never too old to be used of Him. ( I am 70 and my husband is 74.) We enjoy our Weekend to Remember so much that we have become more involved with the local team. It is our desire to see many marriages restored. As we greeted people coming in for the weekend, we could see many many were hurting, but by the end of the weekend, you could tell many had received God’s ministry to their marriage. What a weekend!”

“I don’t know who to share this with, but I thought you may like to know that a year ago this spring, my husband and I attended your Weekend to Remember conference in Indianapolis. We were legally separated at the time. We almost did not make it through Friday night at the hotel, but God got us through to the next day. I want someone from FamilyLife to know that the conference saved our marriage, and we have truly never been the same since. We will never forget that weekend and hope to return again as ‘happy alumni.’ Thank you for all you do.”

“My marriage was in shambles. My husband didn’t want to tap into any resources I suggested. For seven years I tried to do my part, but I was worn down emotionally. I felt I was out of resources and at a dead end. One night, I cried out to God and said, ‘Lord, here I am. I need something completely different and NOW. I pretty much need a miracle. I don’t want to quit. Please guide me.’ The NEXT AFTERNOON I received a mailing for the WEEKEND TO REMEMBER! (miracle #1) and thought about it privately for three days, doubting my husband would ever spend money and time for something like that. Finally, I approached him and he was for it! (miracle #2). We just attended the Minneapolis conference. It was definitely a WEEKEND TO REMEMBER. There were couples there married three weeks to 48 years! I laughed (a lot) and cried (a lot) and had a BLAST! We even publicly renewed our vows and I just…WOW. I don’t really know how to describe it. The weekend was so powerful. I think it’d be great for any couple. EVERYONE should be able to experience it. The speakers were INCREDIBLE and HILARIOUS! The projects were deeply meaningful and date night, of course, was extremely special. This catapulted us forward in the right direction. We connected in a way we hadn’t for a LONG time (spiritually, emotionally, and physically). On the weekend feedback form, we both said one thing we took from it was that ‘We fell in love again’ (Miracle #3). The cool thing was that we filled out our forms separately! THANKS FamilyLife!”

“Greetings FamilyLife. As a pastor, so much of my time is concentrated on the people of our congregation, so much so that they become my primary focus, and my wife and our sons tend to become secondary. Things seemed to be falling apart on the home front while I was trying to be strong for other people. These few days helped wake me up to what a wonderful gift God has given me in my wife and our two sons and how they deserve to be my priority in life over the needs of the people of the congregation. Now I feel I can pastor more effectively by example and serve as an example not only to the congregation but more importantly as an example to my sons. An example of what a loving marriage is all about. We plan to make this event something that we attend every three years as it truly helps to rejuvenate our marriage. Thank you and your entire staff for your work and your ministry. We will do our best to help encourage others to attend these enriching weekends.”

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Changed Lives from this past Weekend to Remember

Posted by on Mar 5, 2008 in Marriage, Ministry | 0 comments

Each weekend this spring, thousands of couples will attend FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember conference and hear about God’s plan for marriages. For many who come at a point of despair, the weekend will provide both help for today and hope for tomorrow. We see this demonstrated each weekend in the comments we receive on evaluations. Here are just a few from this past weekend.

Broke down years of barriers, conflict was addressed so trust could start rebuilding. I came here desperate for hope and a turning point, and God met me there. Praise to Him and your ministry.

Opened the lines of communication for us. Let me know that divorce should not be an option. Before I attended this conference I was ready to walk out on my marriage. Now I realize that my husband is God’s perfect provision for me.

A conference highlight for me were the speaker’s own stories and how they relate to what was being taught.You laugh and cry; very emotional. We were amazed. Being told about it cannoy compare to being there. Our marriage was not going to make it a year ago.Our friends invited us to HomeBuilders. It has saved our marriage. Thank You!

One month ago I told my husband I wanted a divorce and no longer loved him. We are going on 15 years of marriage, each year feeling like it was getting worse rather than better. We own a karate school and the extent of our marriage has been as business partners, too busy to try, and too busy to care. This conference allowed
us to openly discuss our problems and desires, plus it has given us a chance to invite God back into our lives. It is true hope. A group of friends actually signed us up for and paid for this conference knowing the ‘near divorce’ situation we were in.

On Date Night, we spoke deeply for hours and hours and hours! We opened up like never before! It was wonderful!

I feel like a piece of putty. I’m ready, open & willing to let God lead our life. I was blaming my husband for our failing relationship, I found out it was all me, I was ready to separate. Now that thought makes my stomach turn. I see the purpose
for our marriage.

Not every day of our marriage was bad, however, we knew changes had to be made. God showed us His amazing power. I feel we are on a road to healing. We’ve learned some great information. We are now responsible to God and to each other to put this into action. I want to help my husband be the man God wants to be; I don’t
want to hinder that.

Reinforced what the Lord had already been sharing with us. We reconnected after a 15-month separation. God has us both a second chance and blown us away with His goodness.

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Releasing your Child in a Dangerous World

Posted by on Jan 10, 2008 in Personal, Prayer | 0 comments

Yesterday, Gene was involved in an accident that totalled his ’94 Honda Accord. He hit a truck and went under it, deploying the airbags and causing major damage to the front end of his car, as you can see. Praise God for protecting him and the other drivers so that no one was seriously injured!
As parents it is sometimes difficult to release our children into the world because of our fear that something like this will happen. We know that it is a hostile world out there and we don’t want them to get hurt. Yet, it really becomes a test of our faith. Do we really trust that the Lord is in control and that He loves them more than we do? Are we willing to release them into His hands? It’s where faith takes action.
As I’m writing this, I’m preaching it to myself as much as anything because I have to be reminded constantly. Pray for Gene as he looks for a new vehicle that he can affort on a part-time job at Chick-Fil-A, especially with the increased insurance payments that are sure to come. Share with us your stories of the challenges of releasing your kids.

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