As soon as we arrived in Kansas City, Stewart and I were welcomed into the home of Pastor Scott Sundin and his wife, Kelly.  It was great to reconnect with them, since they are long time friends whom we had not seen in many years.

We had the added blessing of meeting Tom, the sound guy, who took care of all our audio visual needs. It was clear that Tom is one of the many unsung heroes who tirelessly serves the body of Christ. He creatively worked out all the glitches in our PowerPoint presentation, and even produced really cool swords for us to use as props to demonstrate how God wants husbands and wives to fight back to back.

We also met Julie, who serves in Blue Ridge Bible Church’s women’s ministry. She had already read A Wife of Valor, and was extremely enthusiastic about our upcoming presentation. She scrambled her team of ladies on very short notice to decorate the fellowship hall, transforming it into a beautiful harvest-themed banquet room.

On Sunday, Stewart and I were blessed to present two messages, one during the combined adult Sunday School hour, and one after a potluck lunch.

The feedback we received from the people in the congregation was very encouraging. One man said, “My wife and I have not had a lot of conflict in our relationship, but the idea of fighting back to back is new to me. I’m excited to hear more.”

In the first session, we shared our testimony of the lessons God has taught us in our twenty-nine years of marriage. Afterward, one young mom told me, “I really appreciated your story. My attitude going into marriage was much like yours.” After the second session, which focused on practical steps to fighting back to back, the same woman shared that, “The concept of speaking blessings over my husband was something I had never heard before.”

A final highlight of the trip was being able to pray with a woman whose husband suffers from bi-polar disorder. When she heard that this had been a part of my personal journey, she shared the struggles her own husband is now facing. Stewart and I were able to spend some time praying with her at the end of the afternoon.

All in all, we had an amazing trip. It was exciting to see how God is working to build up His body, both far and near, and to play a small role in that work by serving Him with our talents and gifts.