He Answers

When Mark and I got marreid, he knew what he was getting into with me, knew my beliefs (or lack thereof!) and my feelings about church and religion. I made it very clear that I did not believe in God. It made him so angry when I would say that. Not that he was some super religious guy, more that it was "just something you shouldn't say!" Mark was raised Catholic, but wasn't exactly in touch with his spiritual side.
Then all of a sudden, the girl he once knew has this life changing event happen, and now says she is going to try out church. After I went to one particlular church for awhile, and really loved it, I started meeting with the pastor, reading Christian books, reading the actual Bible, going to Bible study, attending church more than once a week and volunteering with the high school group. At first, Mark thought this was just a fad, something that would soon pass. But he began to see that it was really picking up steam and that I was really committed to this. He soon realized that I truly believed in God and he began to notice that God was really making a difference in my life, changing me at the core, repriortizing my life and transforming me into a whole new person.
When I started asking Mark to go to chuch with me, he made it very clear that while he was happy for me and supportive of my faith journey, he didn't want me pressuring him or pushing all my new beliefs on him or judging him, etc. So I tried to really back off. I took the advice of my pastor, shut my mouth and just let my actions and my life speak to how much of a difference Christ was making in me. I later invited him, casually, to church. Finally he accepted. He went, he liked it there a lot and attended with me pretty regularly, but never really got too involved. For 2 years, I have been praying and praying for him and having close Christian friends of mine praying and praying for him. I wanted him to open his heart and allow God to work in him. I wanted him to really give his faith a chance by honestly seeking God and learning more about Christ, questioning, discussing, praying, etc. I tried to stay out of it and let God do the work. I trusted that God wanted this relationship with Mark more than I even knew, and that he was doing all he could to call Mark to him. But I knew Mark, and he can be a stubborn guy who likes to prove his point to me, and I wondered if he would ever really give this faith thing a fair shot. All I could do was give it over to God.
A couple of weeks ago Mark stepped up to be the Freshman boys small group leader at our church. PRAISE!!
We started praying together. PRAISE!!
We have been reading Case for Christ together. PRAISE!!
On Saturday I felt this overwhelming feeling that I should go buy Mark a Bible. So I had him watch the kids while I went to "run errands." I nervously, so nervously picked out the most masculine looking Bible I could find. I kept thinking "what am I doing? He's not going to like this. This is going to push it too far. He's gonna be really uncomfortable with this!!" But there was something in me that kept pusing me to do it. So I bought it. And a card where I wrote a long note to him, inviting him to truly open his heart and give God a chance to change his life. We went out for dinner that night and I soooo nervously gave him the gift. He happily accepted the Bible and the invitation to try God out. PRAISE!!
Mark and I decided to join a small group at our church together, where as a family we will meet with 3 other young families every other week and have dinner, discussions, pray and challenge and encourage eachother in our faith. PRAISE!!
I tell you, no job is too big for God. If he can create the universe, he can surely soften the heart of one of his own creation. I will continue to pray that God does a mighty work in Mark so that he can also experience the peace in Christ that surpasses all understanding.