cautious words

cautious words follow because this is a post about my husband, and as I have said before, the role of wife is one that I plan to succeed at 100 percent. so for him, i blog cautiously, but real today.

my husband is one of the most social people i know, along with being incredibly motivated and passionate. his love for life amazes me sometimes. he is also surprisingly sensitive, but i suppose when you are as passionate as he is, your heart can break easily. lately his heart is breaking often. i can see it is his eyes; more frequently than not, there is a sadness there.

for the past few months i watched him throw himself into a ministry about which he was ecstatic. and as time has passed and the project picked up pace to a point where it consumed, and still consumes, more than half of our free time, i saw his patience growing thin. he was discouraged easier. he angered easily when we talk about it. it wore on his mind.

but it was not the time commitment or the lack of fruit in the ministry that caused it. instead the disappointment came from leadership. when leaders let us down, smother our voice, and micro-manage us, we feel discouraged.

how do you minister when your Christian brothers and sisters disappoint you with their lack of passion, their misplaced priorities, and their self-centered attitudes? (this may seem like a judgment on my part, but regardless, this is the way it feels. like when someone says something that comes off in a harsh way, it feels harsh regardless of how it was meant.) it feels like they do not care about your ideas, your help, or the mission.

this was where we stood. our first time able and called to serve in this capacity, yet unwanted by our leaders.

all we could do was pray.

we met God in His word and felt encouraged by His character. we focused on the mission, rather than our own circumstance. we found comfort in 2 Timothy 1:11-12. “I was appointed to announce the good news. I was appointed to be an apostle and a teacher. That’s why I’m suffering the way I am. But I’m not ashamed. I know the one in whom I’ve placed my trust. I’m convinced that God is powerful enough to protect what he has placed in my trust until that day.”

together, and through God, we will continue to share the good news in this ministry. and regardless of how unimportant our leaders make us feel, it will be good.