On Sunday, I shared with our church My personal Jonah story. As I’ve been thinking about that, and hearing some of the feedback from members of our church, what I’ve come to realize is we all have a Jonah story.
So, I’d love to start hearing some of your Jonah stories.
If you’re bold and brave enough, you can post your Jonah story in a comment here on the blog, or on our Facebook page. If that’s too much for you, you can submit it using the contact form on our website.
The point is, we all have a story.
The other point is, we all grow stronger by sharing our story. It doesn’t have to be long, it doesn’t have to be deep and profound. But, what’s your story?
If you are having a hard time getting started, just use this phrase to get going: there was a time in my life when I really felt like God wanted me to do _______ but I did _______.
Every year our church takes Christmas service “off.” I always go to Church on Sunday’s so this Sunday was a chance for me to try out a different Church. I went to the Exchange Church, which was still meeting at Whipple Creek. I always love going to this Church because they are such obvious “sinners.” They always speak openly about their sins and what awful embarrassing things they have done. It is refreshing to hear people be so honest about what is really going on. This day was like any other Sunday I yelled at my husband at home and then some more in the car and then maybe some more in the parking lot at Church. This one lady stood up and talked about how much she used to hate her husband. She talked about how much God has melted her heart and now she just loves him so much! It was very moving to hear this, but I still stood there and grumbled “When is it my turn?” I am always praying for my husband and for God to change HIM and fix HIM, and I always tell God what HE (my husband) did to ME. I also didn’t really understand what she meant by God melted her heart; until a few weeks later. I was dead asleep when I woke up sobbing. I usually pray early in the morning before everyone gets up so that I can have quiet time alone, but this was a little different. I had this awful dream that I had left my kids and husband and was homeless. In my dream I was reunited with them and missed my kids and was crying. That is when I woke up just sobbing. I remember God telling me “THIS is what it means to have a melted heart.” I don’t know who has been praying for me, but I felt like they were really praying for me to be healed at the very moment. I began praying and thanking God for what had happened, and for guidance. I just remember thinking that this lady stood up in front of everyone and told us all how much she used to hate her husband. I still think that it would be so embarrassing to say that. No one really clapped for her, and it was kind of off topic of the sermon. It helped me so much. This lady was a lot older than me. I have only been married a few months, but I have been with my husband for about 10 years. I know that a lot of married couples feel like they have been to all of these seminars and nothing is changing for them. I was at the point of wanting to get a divorce already. Nothing was changing for me either. I kept wanting my husband to change and the whole time I was the one hardening my heart.