-We wrote this in 6/08
Sometimes we need to go through some of the same experiences the people we will minister to have gone through, in order to be more effective in the ministry. Of course, when we are obedient in the trials, God also brings the blessings!

I wonder where God is going to lead us to minister after these experiences.

-Copied from ? (Forgot to get the date.)
To learn to love your enemies you first must have an enemy. To learn about forgiveness you first must be wronged. To learn about the true joy in the Lord you first must experience deep pain. To learn obedience we first must be asked to do something. To learn true dependence on Christ you must be in deep need. And to be able to minister to others you often must experience the pain to be able to understand. These are the hard lessons of the faith that are not often talked about.

Wish we could have learned these lessons the easy way! So often our writings turned out to be prophetic of where God would be leading us.

-From 2/09
I want you to understand that sometimes to be able to see and recognize the good, first you must see and experience the bad. It’s hard to recognize the one without the other. Scripture also tells us that in this world we will have struggles. Romans 8:28 tells us that God works in ALL things (good, bad, positive, negative, hard) for the good of those who are called according to His purposes. Do we enjoy this (yuck) period right now? Nope, not at all. But we can go through them and grow through them knowing God is at work!
Oswald Chambers said, “THERE IS NO OIL WITHOUT SQUEEZING THE OLIVES, NO WINE WITHOUT PRESSING THE GRAPES, NO FRAGRANCE WITHOUT CRUSHING THE FLOWERS. AND NO REAL JOY WITHOUT SORROW.”

I know some people out there have a real problem with that (saying, in particular). They don’t want to believe that. They don’t want to believe that the Christian life has, and is, a struggle. They want to sugarcoat and over-spiritualize, “well, I guess I can just be thankful I…” “I guess God just wants me to see/do/be…” That’s not all bad, because yes, God is in every situation that we face. But there is often this level where it’s too good-the bad is really good. Really, it’s not. The bad is bad for a reason; the struggle is there for a reason, and it’s OKAY. Let God do the refining work that He needs to do. Don’t fight it, don’t make it all rosy-LEARN FROM IT.

“When silver is refined, the refiner knows it is pure when it has been in the fire long enough to see his reflection. So it is with God. He will allow us to go through the fire until He sees His reflection.”

Praying that He sees His reflection soon!