As this year draws to an end, I want to take a moment to praise the Lord for His many blessings and all of the awesome things FAM Fellowship members and visitors to our public website have been blessed to witness in the past year! Faith And Marriage Ministries and the FAM Fellowship have grown and changed so much in the past year that it really is hard to believe at times just how much we’ve seen God doing in the ministry and in the hearts, lives and marriages of so many of our family members—we truly are a family here, and that is one of the most wonderful blessings the Lord has given all of us in the past year!

We have actually added one hundred and nine new members to the FAM Fellowship this past calendar year and it’s just not possible to adequately express the blessings so many of our new family members have brought to the ministry. Of course, leaning to our own understanding, when the growth started coming so rapidly, we were all a bit concerned about the impact that would have on the ministry and how we would handle all of the changes it necessitated. But God has managed all of that so wonderfully and we’ve actually benefited much more than any of us ever could have imagined. With each new person that joins FAM and becomes active, we gain new insight and have so many more opportunities to see the awesome ways God works in all of our hearts and lives as everyone shares their powerful praises and testimonies. The Lord has truly blessed us with SO many very gifted and talented men and women as part of our family; in fact, three of our new members were added to the Board of Directors at our last Board meeting earlier this month, when we increased the number of Directors from six to eight! It’s also been a great blessing to see that more men are joining the ministry and that they are becoming even more active on the private site. And it sure was a great relief and blessing to FINALLY be able to make the much needed upgrades and changes to both websites, which we had quite unsuccessfully been trying to accomplish for well over a year and a half!

Yet, as 2008 draws to a close, we are eagerly and quite excitedly looking forward to the coming New Year and even more changes in the ministry. FAM Chat is being replaced with FAM Study Groups, which will be small groups meeting on prescheduled conference calls to study and discuss a particular topic relating to our stand for marriage restoration as we grow in our walk and relationship with the Lord and learn to stand in faith and obedience on the power and promise of His Word. Initially, the FAM Study Groups will be lead by three of the FAM Board members; Melissa, Dan and Diane, and all of the FAM members are very excited about that. And it is my personal hope that we will se the concept of FAM Marriage Support groups take hold in the coming year as well because we currently have one active group in the Pittsburgh, PA area, which is led by Karla (one of our new Directors who has already been blessed with a Restored Marriage) and the ladies in her group are really being blessed. I hope and pray to get at least one book published in the coming year and the Board has decided that one way to take the ministry to the next level would be for me to start accepting speaking engagements. And even though that’s really exciting for me because I just love sharing the Lord and what His Word teaches about marriage and standing on the power and promise of His Word for marriage restoration, it will definitely present some new challenges for me personally. Yet, we know that God prepares and equips us to do all that HE calls us to do, so I’m praying to just remain a fully willing and yielded vessel while seeking HIS will and guidance. And in preparation for that, I will begin submitting applications for a guide dog next week in an effort to help make independent travel much easier. So in addition to so many other wonderful changes I know the Lord has in store for all of us in the coming year, there will definitely be some pretty big changes in the ministry and in my personal life as well, and I’m very eager to see all that God will do!

Needless to say, among our greatest blessings in the past calendar year were the Restored Marriage Testimonies of eighteen men and women, which we were thrilled to read as they were blessed by a mighty move of God’s hand in their lives as HE restored their marriages and families! And FAM Fellowship members were even blessed to attend the first remarriage of one of our divorced FAM members via teleconference a few months ago. And now we’re all invited to witness Kelly’s and Chris’ vow renewal ceremony via teleconference this Sunday at 3:00pm as well! And including Kelly and Chris, we now have two couples expecting babies AFTER having their marriages restored this year! In addition, we are expecting the restoration of other marriages very soon because we’ve seen the Lord moving so mightily in the hearts and lives of so many of our members and their spouses in the past few months and particularly over the Christmas holidays. God is ever so faithful and HIS WORD NEVER RETURNS WITHOUT ACCOMPLISHING WHAT HE DESIRES AND THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH HE SENT IT, AND HE WIL DOO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO INSURE THAT (Isaiah 55:10-11 and Isaiah 46:10-11)!!!

Since Romans 14:17 teaches us that the kingdom of heaven is about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, I pray for the eyes and ears of understanding to be opened by the power of the Holy Spirit for every man and woman standing for marriage restoration, and that in the name and authority of Jesus Christ, the God of hope will fill you all with all joy and peace in the coming NEW Year as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And may you all be blessed and encouraged as you see and experience the power and love of God Almighty expressed in your marriages and lives today and every day in the coming New Year! AMEN!

Posted Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 5:12 pm in Seeds Of Faith.