The Question

Yesterday, I got asked an interesting question.

I was sitting with a very young wife of a church planter, and she was filled with many questions about this amazing journey.   She asked me many questions, but one sticks out even now.  She asked, “What is the most amazing thing you have seen God do through this journey?

At first, my answer was a mess.  I really wasn’t sure what I could point out as the most amazing thing that I had seen.  Then I remembered the thing that hit me a few months ago.  The most amazing thing I have seen is God’s transformation of my husband.

We have been married fourteen years and we have had our ups and downs.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or naïve. Marriage is tough work, and maybe we have had to work harder that some others because we married at a pretty immature and stubborn state in our lives.  God has been good to us, and helped us carry through the tough times.  If it weren’t for Him, I am pretty sure that there were some times that we wouldn’t have made it.

Not that I am perfect in ANY WAY! That is not what I am trying to portray, but my dear husband had some…. Let’s say, rough edges.

I have watched this man transform before my eyes in the last few years.

His focus has changed.

His demeanor has changed.

His attitude has changed.

His heart has changed.

We all still chuckle when we think of a frantic phone call from him on an Uncle Nick’s run when #4 was in NICU shortly after we arrived in Rockford.  He had taken a wrong turn and he was lost down in the bad area of town after dark. He was quite unhappy and pretty concerned for his safety.  Now, I watch that same man spend time in the same area eagerly.  He ministers to the same people that he used to avoid.  His heart is broken for these people he used to be frightened by.

I watch this man give everything he has to minister to people. In the past, that same man was “so over” ministry and the stinking people that went with it.  Yet, now, God has given him this overwhelming desire to spread the gospel to whoever crosses His path.

I watch a man who swore he would never be in full time ministry want that very thing with his entire being.

I watch this man who had a quick temper and a biting wit beg God to control it, and He does!  I know he isn’t perfect, and his mouth gets him in trouble from time to time, but I also see that same man return broken for the way he spoke.  Every time it happens, I still feel like I have to pick my jaw up from the floor.

I watch a man who is filled with kindness and compassion for those even I do not want to help at times.  I find him willing to give and share and help even when he does not have any left to give.

I watch a man who has always had a love for doctrine, turn and take that head knowledge and have it sink deep into his heart and soul.  It has made him a different man.

For years, I prayed that God would “fix” him.  I begged God for all the things that I thought I needed him to be.  Several years ago, I got the book The Power of a Praying Wife.  I grabbed the book with an excitement that this was going to be truly the answer in the “Fixing” department. I figured, I would just pray him into God’s will.

Well, was I shocked!  The first chapter took all my preconceived notions about how to fix him and tossed them right out the window.  I learned to truly pray for my husband in a different way, and pray that I would be the wife HE wants me to be for him.  Even though my attitude had changed, at times I would think about how he was going to get good and fixed right up.

A few months ago, it hit me.  God was working it out in His time.  He revolutionized my husband right before my eyes, and I was too busy to notice it!

What an amazing gift he has given me.  I get to married to this incredible guy who is in love with His Lord and me!  Can it really get an better than that?