Husband-Love, A Picnic, and Recovery

I was talking to a friend of mine at the church picnic this past weekend when we looks at me and says out of the blue, "You know, I love your husband." Said husband was at that time on a little walk around the park with another guy we know and I immediately agreed with a whole-hearted, "Well, thank you! I do too! I am so glad to hear that!"

As we continued to talk I could see that this guy had a deep respect for Cameron, as well as a joy for when he is around (I don't tell Cameron to his face so he won't get cocky, but he always makes all of us laugh. He is simply a fun guy to be around). It really seemed to be a continuation of a theme that had been appearing a lot recently. I had noticed it when I went to softball practice the other day too (that's right, I joined the church softball team. I'm a boss.) Everyone happily greeted me and almost immediately said, "Where is Cameron?" People like to be around the guy, and that makes me happy.

Of course I would be the first to tell you I married an awesome guy, but that isn't exactly what this is all about.

You see, the guys that we were hanging out with at the picnic are some of our favorite people in the White Mountains. They are all a part of a beautiful and transforming recovery program called Blue Vase. These are some of the most happy, encouraging, kind, friendly guys I have ever met and every moment we spend with them is an absolute joy- in part because man, God is MOVING in these fellas! It's crazy and it's awesome and it's fantastic to be a part of their healing and growth. (Because come on, we are all healing from something and it's great to see guys really transforming and giving us all hope that we CAN change!).

When our church started partnering with this program last December it was just me and our pastor. We loved these guys from the get-go, but my hope and dream was that one day it would be more than that- that these guys would come to church and they would feel loved on by people not just on staff with theChurch. My dream was that they wouldn't be a group that came to church, but that they would be members of our church. And my secret hope was that it would begin with me awkwardly introducing my husband to them and forcing them to have conversations.

(Funny side note: The first weekend these guys came to church after I had been introduced to Blue Vase I was all prepared to introduce Cameron to the ones whose names I remembered. As they walked in the door I went to say hey and they all totally walked past me and ignored me. Cameron looked at me and said, "Well that went well babe." We definitely laugh about that now!)

And that is why I was so excited to hear one of them say he loved my husband. The husband who at that very moment was out walking and talking to another guy in the program. The husband who knows these guys by name and loves them alongside me, who has spent enough time with them that they look to him for advice and wisdom, and who takes it seriously as we strive to show them a good and healthy marriage (where there is mutual respect and a whole lotta love and fun). The partnership and the community is growing and its starting right where I had hoped it would- with a funny guy named Cameron who I get to call my husband. And I'll go ahead and say it, we all love this guy a lot.

What can I say, God is good. . . all the time. . . and his blessings never cease.


Comments

  1. Great! Thanks for working so hard to give these guys a home. You're an inspiration for us to do better :)

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