Around our home, I could have been given the title of “the stain queen.” I’m relentless in my quest to make something “good” again, after it has been damaged by a marker or an ingredient that has left a stain. Before washable markers came along, we had some sad moments where something, whether a shirt or a wall, was forever scarred.
David and I can look back over our thirty-nine years of marriage and see how others have made their mark on us. There were several couples, with a few more years of experience, who came along side us when we were new to the marriage scene and taught us. They imparted many valuable lessons in the area of homemaking, child rearing, house management, and marriage; they answered our questions and imparted spiritual insights. They demonstrated how to “walk the walk” When looking back on those dear believers in the body of Christ who invested in us, David and I can only be grateful. They made a valuable mark on our marriage; they encouraged us to make our marriage relationship deeper and richer, and our home, one that honored Christ.
As young marrieds, our lives were not free from life’s stains or marks, those differences we brought into the marriage relationship. But, we have found, that God wastes nothing.As we have surrendered those stains and marks of our different up-bringing, it has deepened our relationship and brought glory to Him.
It seems to us that the home is the environment in which our Christian walk is tested the most. This testing, if handled properly, has the potential for truly deepening our faith and our marriages. This is why the ministry of Secrets Savored is a blessing to David and me. This ministry has given us a tool for developing relationships with young married couples who are now in the same place we were once in. God is now using the lessons we were taught as a young married couple in the lives of the young couples we have met through Secrets Savored. We are able to encourage them to “hang in there,” to stay committed to one another and to the Lord. We want to spur them on to a deeper relationship with God, who will always be about making us into His image. By helping to strengthen their homes, they are able to build truth foundations that will be imparted to generations to come.
Gwen Hodges
Secrets Mentor
The fact that the Secrets Savored ministry is based on Titus 2 caused me to read and reflect on a few aspects of Paul’s letter to his younger disciple in the ministry. Titus, a minister in a church Paul had founded, was dealing with heresies that were coming into the church. Paul instructs, concerning the responsibility of the older men to come alongside the younger men and to be sound men of faith, of love, and of steadfastness. Paul then explains the role older women are to have in the lives of those who are following behind them.
This is no different in our world today where many are questioning the validity of who God is and if what He says is true. Paul wants us all to impact others for God’s Kingdom. Gwen and I feel that we need to be intentional in this. We have had many who have imprinted their marks on our hearts, marriage, and subsequently on our family. We know that reaching the home of this younger generation is key to reaching the hearts of the culture.
David Hodges
Husband of a Secrets Mentor