At this point in the story, no one knows what we have up our sleeve. We are afraid to tell anyone because we still want friends and we would like our family to believe we are sane. Nevertheless, we knew the time would come and we would begin telling people so they could pray for us. Prayer was necessary because we knew this was something we wanted to do, but we felt God’s blessing was the most important. Knowing where we are in the story today, I am confident God is blessing this decision daily.
Again, an excerpt from my wife’s account to our children:
Sunday July 19th, 2009 - At small group we told our friends about our plans. It is scary to mention such a life change. Will we have friends if we have such an “alternative lifestyle?” We told them we would listen to any criticism they had because God can speak through other people. However, they were positive about the idea. They asked a lot of questions to help us work through potential problems, but they were great. We are blessed to have friends who also know what is important in life.
While we say they “knew what is important in life,” they did think we were crazy. However, they set out to pray with us regarding this issue and offer any help they could. While this group of friends was very limited, our circle of friends, who prayed with us, slowly began to grow. It took a little longer for us to consider telling our families. As you will see, they are not always understanding of the unconventionality of our life.
It's funny - when I first heard about your decision, I thought, "Oh, that sounds just like them." I remember when Deona told us about your Thanksgiving you were so poor and you went door to door at teh college and asked for cans (I think this is how the story goes)." And Deona said it was fun because it was like a treasure hunt and you didn't know what you were gonna get. I of course would've freaked out and cried. But, you made the best of it.
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