I had been married a little over 22 years and for the first time I learned to recieve God’s grace in my marriage. What does that mean? It means I stopped living my life in a pitiful state of rejecting all God had for me through the man that loves me so very much, my husband Bruce.
Choosing Him All Over Again
I love Juana’s title for her book, it is so true in my own marriage. I am having to make a very concious choice, step-by-step in my beloved Lord and through His grace to choose my husband Bruce all over again. I have discovered hidden love that I had locked away because I just did not feel that I deserve him.
“Deep heart wounds cannot be healed without love,
forgiveness, and an acceptance of the past.” ~Juana Mikels
It is challenging to accept the past, being willing to forgive and make a choice to love once again. For me it has certainly taken several years to get me to where I am now. I am more than ever so willing to learn. I have made a choice to stop trying on my own strength to make my marriage work. In fact the energy I spent all those years only led to emptiness and fear.
But Juana is right it is so very important to accept the past. Once I did I was able to go on, although it has not been easy. I have had to face trials I had not planned for, yet our Lord was ever faithful.
The Surrender
For many years I sought to do and be my very best in our marriage but I often fell short. In my own strength I would try to please and be a blessing but I just did not understand why I did not sence the love. My husband Bruce is a very loving and caring man, yet it was not enough I sought something more.
I had finally came to a point of desperation. Although I now knew the Lord, I wondered what I was missing in my marriage?
Real change came into my life when in 2013 I decided to go way outside my comfort zone and tell somebody. Somebody who God could use in my life to nudge me in the right direction because after 21 years I was still struggling. God in his mercy chose Juana Mikels. She blessed me with such wonderful reminders of my Lord’s goodness.
At the time, I had not really spoken to Juana. I had come across different materials, her blogs, Youtube vids and some audio recordings. When I heard her audio testimony of salvation I could so relate to her wonderful spirit and love for our beloved Savior. I admired her very much. But two years went by as our lives were busy on the mission field. Not to mention by this time I had had two miscarriage, our child Faith born between miscarriages and our baby boy James Anthony died before birth in 2013.
God had worked on my heart when I had my first miscarriage in 2009. I was willing and surrendered but I had an additional step to complete and that was to truly to be willing to cry out for help concerning my marriage. Yes I cried out to God and each time He pointed me to Juana. I finally sent her an audio crying out for help and willing to commit to learn from her whatever God wanted me to learn to be the wife I needed to be for my husband. What a joy when she announced her book, “Choosing Him All Over Again.” Very timely.
The Preparation
Now before God in his wonderful mercy gave me the blessed privilege to have a part in Juana’s book launch God was preparing my heart. I surrender to Him and was willing to make 2014 a year of commitment as my personal theme. At the same time my home church, Mt Zion Baptist in Saint Clair, MO had a yearly theme, Grace Abounding, perfect for I have needed my Lord’s grace so very much in 2014.
So my Lord began to prepare my heart starting in Christmas of 2013 where I heard a song by my dearly loved friend Abigail Miller called “Have You Died.” That totally impacted my life. I knew the day I was driving away from my marriage just a few years prior that I was fighting dying to self, an unwillingness to surrender all to make my marriage good for the glory of God.
Somewhere I discovered that Abigail wrote this song based off a book called “Born Crucified” that I began reading the start of 2014. Wow, I am not the same for sure. I truly understand the victorous Christian life is the price of the cross. That price though challenging at times is ever so rewarding. I was so thrilled with my Lord. I was falling in love with Jesus all over again recieving all He had for me. His grace was outpoured in my life.
For the first time I stopped fighting thoughts of, “I don’t deserve my husband’s love. I am not worthy.” etc. You know they are all true thoughts but God does not stop there, the enemy does and relishes in taking truth and making us feel guilty. Juana does a great job of describing in her book the lengths the enemy will go to destroy your marriage. Our Lord on the other hand takes us one step further by reminding us, “You don’t deserve it and that is why it is called GRACE.”
Why Should You Listen to Juana Mikels?
Juana is an incredible communicator bringing biblical truths into practical light in the area of marriage. She understands the impact one family can have in this world that represents Jesus Christ.
“One shining family for Christ is a light on a hill to a world that is unraveling.” ~Juana Mikels
Watch the video below to find out what others are saying about Juana Mikels and how her book can impact your life for the glory of God…
 |