Marriage on a Mission

After spending so much time researching the walls and gates of Jerusalem in order to write Marriage on the Mend, I am speechless to finally be face-to-face with those very walls. While Marriage on the Mend used Nehemiah’s restoration of Jerusalem’s walls as its Biblical backbone, Marriage on a Mission starts where that monumental restoration project ended. Although the Israeiltes, under Nehemiah’s leadership, restored the walls and gates in just 52 days, that was not the end of the story. Nehemiah 13 is the launching point for Marriage on a Mission and today, we spent time outside the city walls, filming some of the lesson segments needed to set the stage for what lies ahead.

In addition, I must note a few other reflections from today:

1. Muslims headed, in mass, to the Dome of the Rock this afternoon. At the same time, Jews were entering their observance of the Sabbath and Christians were “re-enacting” Jesus’ steps on the Via Dolorosa. Still taking it all in.

2. After getting turned around a few times, we finally found our way to the Pools of Bethesda (John 5). How we long for the marriages that are blind, lame, and paralyzed to find their healing in Christ and we pray to that end. We recorded some segments and a powerful time of prayer for marriages in need.

3. We had to return to the Wailing Wall today. It is always very humbling (and convicting) to observe the passion of the Jews who are praying at the wall. Very. What an overwhelming privilege to have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in us, as Christians. May we never take the Holy Spirit or the gift of prayer for granted.

Someone once said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Given that, we hope and pray that this Israel photo collage speaks volumes to your hearts. God is just showing up all over the place. We’ve had spontaneous chances to share our testimony, our guide, George, has helped us get into some faraway places with prime filming locations, and we have sensed the Holy Spirit giving us strength and protection.

We’re totally exhausted, but our hearts are so full, it doesn’t matter! We have three days left here in Jerusalem and, according to Scripture, we know that we serve a God who can do MUCH more than we can possibly ask or imagine in just three days. We hope and pray that He is pleased with all that has taken place and all that is yet to come.

I’m not sure I can even begin to summarize our experiences today, but I must at least write down a few highlights.

We left for Jericho early this morning. When we arrived there, we were given free passes for the tram that climbs up into the mountains and free passage to film lessons for couples up at that location. What amazing answers to prayer! The lessons we planned to film focused on giving couples the Biblical history of Joshua and the Israelites’ battle to take down Jericho, as well as several marital applications with regard to facing their own Jerichos on the  journey to find God’s mission for their marriages.  Interestingly enough, we would each have our own mini-Jerichos to deal with. 1. In the rush to get everything loaded and take full advantage of what we had been given, Clint left our wireless microphones in the van which was, of course, way down at the base of the mountain. 2. I got locked in the bathroom. Yes, I really did. Short of marching around the toilet seven times, sounding a trumpet, and giving a loud shout, someone eventually came to my rescue. We did manage to film both lessons today which testifies to the fact that Jericho is still a place of miracles.

After leaving Jericho, we headed to the Beth She’an National Park to take additional footage. We had to pass through several military check-points as we drove through the Judean wilderness. During the filming of the ancient ruins of Beth She’an, we ended up sharing our testimony of ruin and restoration with our guide. It was astounding to stand in a place that had seen such devastation and reconstruction and to have the opportunity to share God’s miracle in our marriage right there in that place! What a visual!

At one point in the afternoon, I sensed God drawing me over to an area where there were all kinds of items that had been excavated from the site, numbered, and recorded…but not yet placed into the re-construction of the city. Clint was ready with the video camera and we were able to spontaneously capture the truth that God was impressing on our hearts in those moments. On the journey to discover God’s mission for your marriage, you will come upon places and things from your past that may not yet be placed into your story. God often reserves those things for just the right time and the right place. They are important pieces of your marriage story, although they may sit off to the side for a while, sometimes even years. They may also represent pieces of your past that you would rather leave unearthed, due to the pain and sin involved. However, when your ruins are placed into the hands of God, those very places can be used in a powerful way. They actually serve to complete God’s bigger picture. We’ve experienced that truth many times.

On the way back from Beth She’an, we had one last adventure. I don’t know that I’ve ever heart a blast quite what I heard today. Suddenly, the road up ahead of us was shut down. As we sat there on the highway, there were several more blasts and much smoke and dust continued to arise. I was okay with the first blast. A tiny bit startled with the second one. But, numbers three and four actually shook inside my chest. I looked over at Clint (who was calm and smiling) and thought, “Oh, the places we go!” There never seems to be a dull moment when I am wearing my Plan Faith shoes. Never.

Everything must have been alright because they opened the road back up after about ten minutes and now, we are back in Jerusalem. We are dirty, sweaty, and exhausted from a full day. But, our hearts are VERY grateful.

We believe in the power of prayer to heal hurting marriages. More than anything we can do for those in need, prayer must remain our priority. As a reminder of that truth, several years ago, my mom designed a beautiful Wailing Wall Quilt for Marriages that we have carried all over the United States. The pockets of the quilt are filled with the names of hundreds and hundreds of hurting couples. Today, we took a photograph of that symbol and tucked it, along with our prayers for these couples, into the real Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

“As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” Acts 17:12

Being in the Word daily…eating it, breathing it, and sleeping it…has made ALL the difference in our marriage this time around and we see this same truth reflected in marriages around the world. May we possess what the Berean’s were noted for–an eagerness to receive and examine the Word of God–and inspire others to do the same. We refer to this as developing and nurturing “spiritual literacy” in couples, which is one of the main goals for the Marriage on a Mission experience. Today in Berea, we were blessed to have a brief opportunity to see this mosaic which represents what transpired when the Apostle Paul came here.

As we walked around the ruins of ancient Philippi today, our hearts cried out, “Yes, God can piece together the ruins of any relationship. To this, we bear witness!” It was absolutely overwhelming to walk around this ancient city and to see how carefully archaeologists have been working for decades to put all the recovered pieces back together and to construct meaning from their findings. So many times when relationships are broken, we just want a quick fix. But true, deep healing requires attention to detail, time, and a process of God’s choosing. It takes careful study to learn from the past, in order to create meaning for the present and future. Healing cannot be haphazard, but it must be an active and intentional pursuit of God, the only One who can put the pieces of our ruins back together.

It doesn’tmater where we go…in the states or abroad…we hear the same story over and over. Marriages outside and inside the church are crumbling because of a shaky foundation and increased pressures from the world. There are no interventions for marriages that are struggling in Greece. The divorce rate is high. Couples do not want others to know they are having problems. The economy here is pinching every Euro from famlies. Sound familiar? Last night, we had a Divine appointment with Pastor Dino Russo and we were able to share our story and some of our materials with him. We are grateful for this opportunity and pray that somehow, it helps to make a difference for the Kingdom.

Over and over again as we walked through the ancient city of Athens today, we saw in the ruins the fractured condition of so many marriages in Greece, as well as in the United States. However, we testify to this truth: in the hands of God, there is extraordinary beauty, hope, and possibility among the ruins. 

Today on the site of the Acropolis, we were reminded again about how pertinent it is for us today to understand that after the destruction of many of the Greek temples (from wars, invasions, and earthquakes) what was salvageable from the past was used in the rebuilding process of the new temples and monuments. In this photo, you can actually see the older pieces of marble combined with the newer ones. Together, these stones were used to create a new and unique temple, which was stronger and even more stunning than the one before it.

I tell this brief account of our first morning in Athens with Clint’s full permission. Basically, Clint got really, really lost when he went to pick up the rental car out of the parking garage. Let’s just say that there are way too many one-way streets, motor scooters, and taxi drivers in downtown Athens. I had stayed with our gear and our guide in the hotel lobby. (Note to self: next time, send the guide WITH Clint. It doesn’t take two people to watch our gear.) Of course, for the entire 90 minutes that Clint was gone (a.k.a. lost big time!) I ran various scenarios in my mind for news headlines. “Florida man lost in Athens. Wife delirious and stranded.”) Our guide, Voula, and I had our first opportunity to pray together on the curb outside the hotel where we were pacing back and forth. It’s late and we have a full day tomorrow, but I must at least post this photo of our guide, Voula, when Clint finally rounded the corner and came into view down the street. Oh wait, I can’t hit the pillow just yet, Clint started laughing uncontrollably (I think it’s the jet lag) and wanted me to add this: “Don’t forget to mention there was a public transportation strike today and there are 4 million people in Athens, stray dogs dart in and out of traffic, the names of the streets are in Greek, I didn’t have an international cell phone, we left the international driver’s license in your backpack (good thing you and Voula were guarding it haha.) Oh yeah, and I forgot to take the hotel address with me because I didn’t think I’d get lost. After all the parking garage was only two blocks around the corner.” Clint is still laughing by the way. Good night. Sleep well. I know we will!

We had a little time to walk around the center of Athens after checking in to our hotel. All I kept thinking as we walked from place to place was, “Paul was HERE. Right here, where we are. THE APOSTLE PAUL!” It’s hard to be more articulate than that when you haven’t slept. I’m sure I’ll have more words tomorrow when we head to Corinth. Must sleep. So humbled. So grateful.