Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

This picture is just for attention and hopefully, it has done its job.

(Insert attention grabbing phrase here).

But for real, my heart is that you hear our hearts tonight, and our hearts are that you are pointed to His heart for you.

Sometimes it's all J & I know to do; call on the name of Jesus. 

My heart aches for those who are held captive to their pain, who are so blinded by the sting of hurt and fear they cannot see past the hand in front of them. 

J and I know what that's like and, quite honestly, that is why we are here. 

We want to help, we want to share real hope. 

I know in this world of social media and progressivity there is a lot of talk about being relevant and what that means. In Christendom that is sometimes code for "don't talk about Jesus too much, we don't want to turn people off". 

As if with all of our injenuitive marketing skills and ploys we will draw people into the church without using the "J" word and then we can say it as much as we want when they show up. 

But talking about Jesus and his great love for us only within the four walls of a church building doesn't share hope to hurting who may never know how much He wants to help them. 

If you held the cure to cancer in your hands, would you keep it to yourself?

If you could speak life into this world by just telling others about what Jesus has done for you, wouldn't you just do it?

Sometimes Life has to be shared from the rooftops instead of being contained in a church building, and sometimes rooftops look a whole lot like Instagram and Facebook. 

So, what if I told you that my husband and I have both seriously contemplated suicide at one point in our lives and Jesus saved us from death? 

Would that make a difference?

What if I told you that we have been within days of being homeless and because He placed us on the heart of someone who did not know what we were facing we were able to keep our home? 

Would that get your attention?

How about the time that we had almost no food in our refrigerator and two boys to feed and someone showed up to our home with two weeks worth of groceries? 

How about that, does that matter?

Or how about that time when we were divorced and offenses had been laid that the world tells you not to forgive and we are now halfway into our 17th year of remarriage? 

Oh...I know you've heard that one before.

You see, this is just the highlight reel. These are the over the top, real-life examples of the amazing things we have overcome at the mercy and grace of His hand in our lives. 

There is also a 40 plus year long daily running list of the "small things" he's intervened in. 

No big deal, right? 

I know what you're thinking, "That's great for you. He hasn't done that for me."

We've been there too. 

So caught up in the pain of the moment, so sure He would not show up on our behalf that we frantically scrambled and tried to fix our situation over and over and over again wrapped up in pain that we were sure would never end.

A funny thing happens when you get caught in that pattern of trying to do it all on your own, you don't leave room for Him to move on your behalf or give yourself space to recognize His presence.

And this Jesus that the world so desperately tries to suppress, the one that wants to save you from yourself, will continuously send people across your path, will relentlessly pursue you even up until death, but will never force himself upon you. 

You're waiting for help, busy accusing Him of ignoring you, and all the while repeating behavior patterns that keep you locked into that place of pain and fear. 

And He's waiting for you to just relax and let him help.

I can recall a conversation I had with a gentleman several years ago. This young man was well educated and well respected in his field of work and while he held almost no respect for many around him, he had a modicum of it for me. During a particularly intense conversation about faith, he asked me the following question:

"How can someone as intelligent and educated as yourself seriously believe in this stuff?"

And at the ripe old age of 22, I looked at him and responded with what I know had to be a God inspired answer:

 "It wouldn't be called faith if I could see or feel it. I would rather live my whole life believing there is hope and be wrong when I die than live hopeless."

This was before we had endured some of our worst years. 

This was before we hit the items listed earlier in this article. 

This was before I really learned what it was like to call on the name of Jesus and watch him work on my behalf. 

If I am being fully transparent, there are still days, though they are less frequent, where J and I forget that our lives are held in the hands of a generous and loving Savior. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves to settle our souls and call on him for help, but when we do it pays off. 

I don't know what you are facing, but I can tell you this: If you are reading this, you are just on the other side of the screen from two people who can tell you story after story of God's goodness and faithfulness. 

Our hearts are that if we remind you enough, you will call on the name of Jesus and experience the love and hope we have been privy to ourselves. 

"The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth."

Psalm 145:18