Friday, January 01, 2010

LIVING WELL in 2010 - Preparing for Marriage



We often wish God would show us what is ahead for us. If He had shown me what was ahead for 2009, I might have told Him "never mind, can I skip 2009?" But His answer to me would have been the same as to Paul "my grace is sufficient." And it was.

So, we pray and ask God what He wants and listening closely to follow Him.

God showed us years ago that Christ-like marriages were very close to His heart. His passion became our passion. How does a person have a Christ-like marriage? First, having Christ in his/her life is a non-negotiable.

Second, preparing for the marriage early can make a huge difference. We started teaching a Preparing for Marriage class 15 years ago. We now see young, strong Christian families, some have several children, who came through that class.

What we see new for us in 2010 is holding the class in a "neutral site," instead of in our church. We see a growing interest on the part of young people to prepare, but they can't always find it in their own church or they are often unconnected to a local church.

The beautiful setting of the Old Paseo Chapel is the setting for our class beginning January 18. We believe that God wants us to reach some new couples in a new way. How many of us wish we had some/any teaching to get us ready for a lifetime together? The most exciting and rewarding part of marriage ministry is seeing these couples set the course of the journey together in the right direction.

More about what is ahead in our next post.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

LIVING WELL 2009

The last day of the year is a good time to look at some highlights of what God has done in and through the ministry of LIVING WELL:
  • Ed Edwards came to work full time at LIVING WELL, leaving his longtime position on church staff.
  • Several classes taught for churches.
  • Many marriages healed.
  • Several premarital couples prepared for a lifetime together.
  • Several families saw a new way to deal with finances.
  • Teaching small group Bible study to young couples.
  • More churches trained through the coalition of Marriage Network Oklahoma, led by Donna Edwards.
  • Process for Building Comprehensive Marriage Ministries presented at national conference.
  • Mission trip to Tanzania to teach and train pastors/spouses/church leaders on marriage & family; teach VBS to over 100 children; meetings in individual churches to train teams.
We are looking forward to what God has for 2010!! We value your prayers!