Honored and convicted

It's not often that Doug is given the opportunity to preach during our adult worship service. I really enjoy hearing him preach ... it's fun to be part of the process as he prepares beforehand and then experience how it all comes together from the audience that morning. It's truly an honor to be married to him and it's been enjoyable to watch him grow in his "profession" since I've been a part of his life. I was pretty surprised that he was going to speak on marriage, and even more when he asked me to participate. Here's the link to the audio of his sermon last week, May 27th, The Marriage Manifesto. Convicting for me? Yes, even though I knew much of what he was going to say. I found myself viewing our relationship a little differently this week. I completed a dreaded task (for both of us) that I like to put on his list of responsibilities simply because I think he needs to do it. Yep, I submit.

On a sidenote just for fun ... there this guy that has become part of our church. When several of the work teams did street ministry in the French Quarter last summer and fall, they met Bruce who was a tarot card reader, complete with his little table set up outside Jackson Square. Long story short, Doug and a colleague offered to get Bruce off the street (he was homeless), give him a place to stay, etc. After a cold night last November, Doug and Lawrence went to see Bruce. Well, Bruce had packed up his things, gave his table away, and was ready to walk into a new and different season, and he's been staying at our church ever since. Within a couple days of being loved on by our church body and work teams staying at our church, he placed his faith in Jesus Christ alone. In the last six months, he's grown leaps and bounds spiritually. It's fun to hear his questions and wonderings about Christianity, our world, and how his newfound faith fits in altogether. Recently, he was given a travel trailer that sits on our church property, so it's a blessing that he has his own space now yet he can still be so closely involved with the hurricane recovery ministry.

Anyway, Bruce came up to me this morning and was so proud to tell me about a conversation he had had with Doug earlier in the week. He asked Doug if he could have any woman from any time period in the world, who would it be? I wasn't surprised when Bruce said that Doug indicated that it was me. (crowd says, "aaahh") The awesome thing about it was how delighted Bruce was to tell me this story, how Bruce thinks that it's so neat how I support Doug, and how incredibly fortunate I am to have Doug as a husband. Good stuff...I love to be reminded of that.

I'm amazed that God can use even our short eight-year marriage to demonstrate His love in such a simple yet very authentic way. For Bruce, love is taking on a whole new meaning now that he's understanding the depth of Christ's love for him. Who would have thought we could be a model for him when he's twice our age? That's just how exciting following Christ can be ... age or season of life doesn't have to affect relationships that have a common goal.