Love/Marriage, Spiritual Healing/Peace

My husband and I were married in June 1995 and began attending The Crossing Church in the fall of 1995. We brought into the marriage two children each - his 13 and 11 and mine 7 and 9. We have endured a great deal of difficulty in trying to blend two families. After many years of trials and tribulations, in the summer of 2007, we separated for 3 months and were considering divorce. We decided to give our marriage one more chance to make it work. In February of 2008 we decided to recommit our lives to the Lord and started regularly attending church again. While we had renewed our commitment before, this time it was different. We learned how to ask for God’s help and learned that humility isn’t saying “I’m nothing, but remembering that we’re not everything”. We cried out for God’s mercy and grace and asked him to forgive and save us. We turned our entire marriage and life over to God at that time. We started the road to healing and learned forgiveness, not only from each other, but from ourselves.

Doc. No. 1068866

Sexual Purity

Since my re-dedication to Christ back in Spring 2008, there was still a bond that held me from experiencing the true freedom that God desired for me and I couldn't place my finger on it for a while! I continued to 'move through the motions' of someone who recently rededicated themselves, but my pursuit of a real relationship was constantly being thwarted by a series of poor decisions and failures. I soon came to realize that my definition of a fulfilling relationship was NOT God's definition at all! I read the following scripture and it all fell into place:"It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit."Since that day, that portion of my life, mind and soul was emptied and replaced by His sovereign grace! My views of who I am in Him, including healing past my failures in marriage/relationships, gained clarity and purpose! I no longer wanted my body to become anything but a temple for Christ! Once my heart healed and my mind realigned with His truth, He blessed me with the relationship that He had in store for me this whole time! My fiancé took the same purity pledge and God’s blessings have just poured into our lives and relationship beyond our wildest dreams! Honor, purity, obedience, righteousness, clarity, healing, grace, love, sharing, acceptance and growth have just abounded in our lives!

Doc. No. 1067978

Answered Prayer, Faith, Miracle/Blessing, Physical healing/illness, Pregnancy

When I was pregnant with my first child I had a very difficult pregnancy. I had a condition that only .5% of women get (HELLP). I was in the hospital most of the pregnancy, hanging on for my life. About half way though the pregnancy, I did all the usual testing to see if there would be any birth defects with the baby. After many tests it was concluded that my little boy would have a 90% chance of having downs syndrome. I was mortified and all the dreams I had for my son seemed over before they even began. Fear began to set in and doctors started talking about aborting the baby. I asked the elders to pray over me for healing for my unborn son. They prayed over me and instantly there was a peace that everything was going to be okay. From that point on, I didn't even think about the possibilities the doctors declared over my son. My son was born 8 weeks early and I was in ICU for 2 weeks. We were not able to see each other for the first two weeks of his life. This was hard for me, as my husband friends would go to see him, but I couldn't (only through pictures). One of my friends made a comment "Thank God he doesn't have downs syndrome". It hit me, I hadn't even thought about asking or looking for signs of down syndrome since I was prayed over and my son was healed (not even after he was born). The God of Peace was with me and the Great Physician had performed a miracle! Even after all the troubles with my first born son, God gave me the peace to have another baby. We started this pregnancy off with prayer from the elders. Even though I still had HELLP and many trials, my God of Peace was with me through it all. We are now blessed with two healthy sons!

Doc. No. 1065389

Faith, Tithing/Giving

When my husband and I first became Christians we heard a lot of talk about tithing and it was a new concept to us. We were in debt with two cars, school loans, and tens of thousands in credit card debt. We both were in jobs where there was no room for God to move - straight salaries, no commission. It seemed impossible for us to tithe and still make ends meet. Our hearts wanted to give, but the numbers just didn't add up. So we tithed a set % (not the full 10%) and I figured what my time was worth per hour and made up the rest through serving at the church until we could pay off some debt and pay the full 10%. God saw our hearts and efforts to give and blessed us both with raises (after several months) in an economy where layoffs were happening in both our jobs. We gave both raises to God and haven't looked back since (7 years ago). Our God is faithful for those who are obedient to His commands!

Doc. No. 1065426

Parenting

My husband and I were wanting to get as much information as possible about how to be good parents and do all the birthing, nursing, taking care of baby safety classes that we could get our hands on. I think I read all the books on the subject as well. I personally did a little information overload while I was pregnant. My husband wanted to get Christian answers to any question we could, so when we heard our church was going to give a class specifically for parenting, we were in! I was still pregnant when we started the class. I still think we actually have a class to make-up since we were in the hospital, having our child, for the very last one. I remember couch time is the first lesson we learned and how that hit home with wanting to show our child that we love each other and he would feel securely in seeing our devotion to us spending time with each other. It wasn't fair that we won the couch time competition since we didn't have kids at that time. It can be challenging now too, but we are trying to keep that up once again. I also remember the interrupt rule I love that one! Even though we haven't been able to use the lessons as of yet. Our son is only 13 months old, we are seeing how we will be using what we learned sooner than later. We will definitely be back for a refresher course and to check out the new curriculum. The parenting class we took definitely made an impact on our lives in the hopes that we can raise our son to walk with God. It definitely gave us the confidence and support to know we are not alone in this. We are so happy to be a part of the alumni of the very first parenting class held at the Crossing Church. Thank you Jesus for our church and its many available care ministries! Rock on!

Doc. No. 1065460

Finances

My wife and I had an early decision to make in our brand new marriage. Would we serve and trust God completely, or only at convenient times? When we first got married, I had a job, but not my wife. Our finances kept dwindling until we were forced with a decision: Give God our tithe, or pay the rent. We could not do both and remain in the black. Though it was somewhat terrifying, we decided to give to God first trusting Him with our lives. The VERY NEXT DAY, my wife received not one, but two job offers. From that day, two things have never changed: 1) We have never stopped giving God the tithe and even making offerings above that. 2) We have never been close to exhausting our finances. God is so faithful when we stop stealing from God (Malachi 3:10) and give what belongs to Him.

Doc. No. 1074930

Answered Prayer, Obedience, Provision, Encouragement, Miracle/Blessing, Purpose, Serving

Commit your way to the Lord;...He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, Ps. 37:5,6
A Missionary friend contacted me, seeking some alterations to an outfit. The Lord inspired me to refuse any payment for my services.
Christmas was near, being on disability, funds were low, gift money even lower but I had to trust.
Both my husband and I have committed to the Lord our talents and service. We always welcome projects and side-jobs that both serve others and offer seed to our finances.
I was contacted with the opportunity to personalize ornaments for the volunteers at the church. The negotiations included personalizing 1200 ornaments and sewing a small gift sack to put it in! It was a large order with a prompt deadline but our love to serve and encourage others surpassed any potential pressure. We accepted with excitement, what a multi-purpose blessing. We could serve others, offer our talents, and get a financial blessing!
There was much to get done. God blessed our intention and our willingness to be His vessel.
The day we accepted the project, the same Missionary friend dropped off a once-used name-brand sewing machine! Only the Lord knew I had been wanting one for years and was willing to sew without one for His body of volunteers!
God sent helpers to offer assembly assistance. Each ornament was prayed over and His spirit brought unity to this projects completion.
I believe the Lord touched many people through this gifting of the church to the volunteers, but the greatest blessing was to us! Seeing how our obedience even within our own need sprouted so many other blessings; volunteers were loved on, appreciation was overflowing, we got a financial blessing, and was a part of something greater than gifts, unity in the Lord! What a marvelous revolving gift!
Lets not forget, I got a like-new sewing machine! His word is true, He gives the desires of your heart..."

Doc. No. 1076642

Source: Wisdom