A New Season

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Today we are thankful that we are still standing.  We are thankful that the work of God and His will is continuing to be made manifest in our life on a daily basis.  We are thankful for where He has brought us from and where He is leading us.

It has been some time since we have posted anything new.  While our voice has been temporarily silent during the last year, we have continued to be in prayer for you, your spouse, and the situations that you find yourselves in.

When we said good-bye over a year ago, we left you with a passage from Ecclesiastes 3 which says that there is season for everything under heaven.  Well, friends, we are embarking upon a new season.  We have gone through seasons of tearing down, of rebuilding, and of rest.  And in the past few weeks the Lord has begun to change the seasons for us.

We have noticed that this blog has continued to flourish in spite of our absence.  We believe that the Lord is telling us that there is more for this blog.  We don't even know what "more" means at this moment but we will be faithful and obedient to His leading.  We won't be posting on a daily basis like we were before.  But, we will be here.

So, after much prayer, conversations with each other,  and conversations with the Father we are back to writing.  We are not writing to make our names known or for others to stay updated with us.  We are writing for those out there that feel like they are in this fight alone.  We are writing for the ones out there searching and looking for someone that can relate to the pain they are enduring.  We are writing to be encourage those that feel like throwing in the towel to fight one more round.  We are writing to declare to this world the heart of the Father in regards to covenant.  We are writing to remind the devil that he cannot win but will always lose, not because of us, but because of Christ's redemptive work of the cross.

By us following the Holy Spirit's leading by picking up our pens again means that we are volunteering to go back to the front lines in this war.  We have weighed the gravity of this choice and with cautious, but willing, hearts we head to the front.  Please, pray for us as we wield His Sword and hold up His standard and Word.

We have His perfect peace in this new season.  Keep standing!

Josh and Serena

Father's Day

Today is Father's day.  I am so glad that I am able to enjoy this day with my wife and kids.  It almost wasn't so.  This may come out being a bit harsh but it is also a warning for something you may be considering or in the process of doing.

When I began my departure from my family, I started practicing what it would be like to be a divorced dad.  I did all the "fun" things.  I took them all out to dinner once a week...to wherever they wanted to go.  I was going to be the fun dad.  I thought that was "being there" for them.  However, there is more to being there than dinners once a week or going out for ice cream.

This is not meant to bring blame or condemnation if you find yourself in this situation because of your spouse's choices.  Being a divorced spouse is not something that is to be taken lightly.  The movies and TV make it look like it is no big deal.  Our culture makes it easier and easier to be a divorced parent.  But, it is not meant to be this way.

If you, as a parent, desire to be there for your kids means that you have to be there...physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  It means that you are there for the good times (going out to eat, ice cream, winning the soccer game, birthdays) and the bad times (skinned knees, dashed hopes, bad dreams, and thunderstorms).  You don't get to pick which days you want to be a great parent.  Great parents aren't made by the good days; they are made by the bad days that you have but have to pull it together for your children.

Wives pray your husbands home, for the sake of your children. Don't allow Satan to win this battle.  It doesn't just end with dashed childhood hopes and dreams; this carries into adulthood. Think about the long term effects and how their life will turn out. Teach your children that God makes the impossible possible.  Keep standing for the return of your children's father. 

Fathers, GO HOME, if you are not where you should be.  Your daughters need you to affirm them and show them what to look for in a future spouse. They need their dad to be there to protect them from the hormones of young men.  Your sons need their father to teach them how to be a real man.  How to change a flat tire and how to stand courageous in the face of danger and adversity.  In years to come, don't leave them standing in the card section at Walmart wondering what kind of card to give you on a day which honors your role as their father...wishing it wasn't so hard to pick the "right" card.  Be there for them and being there for them is where GOD wants you. 

Happy Father's Day!!

Josh and Serena