You know the expression, “When life hands you lemons…”
Lemons laid out on the counter can last anywhere from 2-4 weeks after being picked and if stored in the refrigerator can last 1-2 months. As handy as this produce information may be, I’d rather like to know…
When is the timing appropriate to take our painful situation and start using it to bring refreshment to others?
How long before we make lemonade?
One thing is true as believers, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) (However, to all the spouses out there who are knee deep in suffering because of infidelity, I firmly believe there is a season to file that scripture away for later observation.)
We decided early on, that in order to provide authentic blog content for Christians walking through a painful marital issue of adultery, the timing then was right to move forward in sharing our story.
A couple lemons grabbed from the bag.
I had a couple people prefer we not share our story at all, but I digress.
For the majority though, people have thanked us for being so candid, and there are some who today will receive comfort from browsing the archive, because they too, just found out their spouse was unfaithful.
Our lemonade is still providing refreshment, praise be to God.
While we have been absent on the blog frontier a while, nothing about our lives have been quiet during that time. In fact, the big bag of lemons that I thought were running out of shelf life, seemed to have sprouted trees that are budding with signs of new fruit.
Thats the thing about painful events in our lives; it often produces opportunity in abundance.
Now its time to make a few more glasses.
Over the next… who knows how long, we would like to offer a few more posts. A time of transition has taken place where we’d like to share with you some sides of recovery that just aren’t glamorous;
1. The pain of friends who pulled away from us and our mess.
2. How it feels to show up to church with the “letter A”.
3. Trembling when sharing your story for the first time with new friends.
4. The longing to do ministry despite disqualification.
But we would also like to like to offer a side of redemption from the Lord that is going to change the course of our lives forever;
5. Being given a business opportunity that can raise enough money to sponsor couples who can’t afford counseling.
6. The dream to run/fund some kind of retreat center for Christian couples who are in recovery.
7. The comfort that comes from having friends who never left your side.
8. How living in lowly places causes a person to truly see God’s glory.
For those who have been called to be a heralding hope stirrer to all, the cost of knowing Hope personally, is great.
Thank you for giving our family an opportunity to share with you the love of Jesus and supporting the content we have shared. Thank you for recognizing that we don’t offer a hope that is unable to speak to our mess, but rather comes down into the deepest darkest territory of it in order to restore it.
I believe with every fiber of my being that restoration is made available to all of us today, and I pray God gives us wild opportunities to share the love of Jesus with many couples in our future days to come.
X O
Because of what Jesus came and did on behalf of our sin, “let us strengthen the hands that are week and the knees that are feeble, and make strait paths for our feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:12-13)
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