Thank You Good Shepherd Family!

But I will hope continually,
and will praise You yet more and more.
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
I will go in the strength of the Lord God;
I will make mention of Your righteousness,
of Yours only.
O God, You have taught me from my youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

Psalm 71: 14-17


Marc and I met at Good Shepherd Community Church almost 15 years ago. We were married there -- our family really began within its walls. We love our church family and feel a deep connection there; however, neither of us are really center stage kind of people. We have attended there many years and have managed to stay fairly quiet and behind the scenes. We like it that way. It fits us.

When Marc was first diagnosed, attention was drawn to our situation. Our elders and pastors were aware of our story. Our closest friends and Bible Study members were also in close contact and knew the details of Marc's illness. Our blog followers -- well, you guys are tops! All of these people prayed for us and served us in so many ways. We have been quite overwhelmed in the last year by all the love and support we have received. We have not been alone in this fight for one day. God has provided for us so well.

Tonight God provided even more....abundantly more. At the end of services tonight our pastor, Alan, asked quite unexpectedly that Marc and I to come up on the platform to tell our story. Not an easy task for two under-the-radar type of people. We were crying before we got to the steps. As my sweet husband told about our year, I looked out on the hundreds of people in the congregation. So many faces. Some strangers, some acquaintances, and so many friends. As Marc muscled his way through his testimony, Steve and Mel joined us on the platform -- someone needed to prop us up so we wouldn't buckle. The whole time I was thinking....Who am I that you have blessed me so? Who am I? We aren't important people. We certainly aren't popular or influential. Who are we to be up there telling our story, garnering the prayers and emotions of this congregation? The answer came loud and clear. We are part of a family. It's not a congregation, but a family. The body of Christ. Amazing.

As Marc finished talking, Alan invited the congregation up on stage to pray over us. Not just elders. Not just pastors. The whole congregation. Hundreds of fellow believers. To say that our cup was running over would be an understatement. As Marc and I knelt among the throngs of people, I could feel God's overwhelming love for us. There are no words to explain how touched we were. None.

While this experience was incredible and sweet, the ensuing conversations and thought processes were pivotal. All evening we have wrestled with what we know about God and His son Jesus. As any of you can attest that follow the blog, we do profess faith. We have asked you all to pray for a multitude of issues that we have faced. Most of all we have asked for healing. We have hoped for a miracle.

Tonight as people rose from their seats to come forward and pray over us, I felt like something was waking up -- waking up within the church and within me. I have always hoped for a miracle, but do I believe it possible? Do I really have faith that Jesus heals and makes us whole? Do I think it is something that can happen now, or just amazing stories that took place some 2000 years ago? I realized that yes, I do have faith in Christ; however, I never considered that He would ever do something miraculous for me. Because, really, who am I? I believe my faith needs to be refined. God's promises are for all of us. We need to believe. We need to call on His name. We have all become so accustomed in putting our faith and hope in other things that we have forgotten He has the ability to do it all.  He is able.

I don't know how our story is going to end. I do know that we serve a very mighty God, though. I watched Him move tonight and it was profound. I came away not just feeling loved by our family, but feeling as if God is afoot...like something is about to happen. Oh sure, many of you might be thinking I've lost it. To some of you these are the rantings of a desperate wife wanting her husband to be healed. I suppose to many of you it may seem pathetic that we have placed our hope in anything other than medicine and science. I don't really care. I believe that God can make Marc well. Miracles do happen. I have seen too much in the last year to deny His love and providence in our lives. If I believe in those things, then I must believe in his ability to do wondrous deeds. So, in the weeks to come we are going to be calling out in His son's name -- yep, that's right....asking Jesus to give us one big, undeniable miracle! Care to join us?

With love and gratitude...