My husband and I are getting ready to speak at a United
Marriage Encounter Weekend. United
Marriage Encounter holds many weekends every year for couples that want take
their marriage to the next level. It is
a great opportunity to learn a new tool for communication and practice it while
on the Weekend. It’s like a tune-up for
your marriage. We need annual tune ups
for our car. Why are we not thinking
about our marriage the same way?
UME is a 100% volunteer organization, so it takes many hands
to make the work light. There are numerous
tasks that need to be completed before the couples arrive on a Weekend Friday
night. My husband and I are the executive
couple for the local community and assist with the many tasks that help the
Weekend go on without a hitch. We have
been volunteering since 2016 which was our original Weekend.
Our first task is always prayer. Prayer is first because spiritual warfare is
strong. The enemy does not want marriages
to become stronger. If anything, the
enemy wants to destroy marriages and families.
This way the foundation is cracked and is vulnerable to attacks. We need God in our marriages to keep our perspective
when the attacks occur.
My husband and I often walk into the Weekend on Friday singed
from all the attacks. If the enemy can reach
us, then the UME Weekend can be affected.
God always fills our cups as we pour into the couples on the weekend. I am amazed every Weekend how God shows up
and we walk out as refreshed as the couples.
We all know, where God calls us, He also prepares and
qualifies us. Carl and I are far from
perfect. We are two ordinary people
willing to be used by God. He receives
all the Glory as we share our stories on the Weekend. We often say that we are God’s cosmic joke
teaching marriage tools when we both have been married three times. The awesome part is that GOD gets ALL the
credit when we present on Weekends. He
qualifies us. He gives us the
words. He is in control, and we don’t
need to feel unqualified. I am so
thankful for His calling on our lives.
But don’t forget, where God calls you, the enemy is right around
the corner ready to attack because that way he can ruin your testimony. Staying on our knees in prayer helps us to be
humble and remember who is really in control.
This is His weekend, not ours. He
is the one reaching the couples, not us.
With all the hours and spiritual warfare, you might ask - Why
do we do this? One thing I have learned
in my pursuit of His will is that you cannot outgive God. He called us to be a part of this marriage ministry. And like the loaves and fishes, we never walk
away with less than we put into the Weekend.
We give our time, and our finances to bless couples we don’t know
because God called us to do so. When we
do, there are miracles that happen each Weekend.
What has God called you to do? Remember where He calls you, He will qualify
you. Whether it is your time or
finances, you cannot out give God. Pray today
to see where you can be used in the Kingdom.
Want to know more about UME and what we do? Click here or send me a message and I can help!
Ephesians 6:12-13
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on
the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I
send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 48:15
I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring
him, and he will succeed in his mission.
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were
born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed
down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with
the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
