Within the months of both July and August, True Hope Counseling has seen tremendous growth! It is exciting to see such growth in a still-fairly-new ministry and True Hope staff and Board members are excited and praising God for this! It is such a blessing to receive constant confirmation that we are doing what God desires! Although faith must play a role in the journey, our human hearts and minds sometimes crave visible confirmations along the way, and God has been gracious to provide that for us within the last two months. (You can find those confirmations under "August Roses" on our newsletter page.)
In August we had our second Board meeting. At the beginning of that meeting I shared my heart burden with the Board that True Hope Counseling be first and foremost a ministry that has a strong foundation of prayer. This heart burden came in the month leading up to our Board meeting as a result of re-reading Jim Cymbala's book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. In his book Pastor Cymbala states that a ministry's overall health can be judged, not by numbers or finances, but by the amount of prayer that undergirds and supports it. He believes that as God's people pray, God will answer those prayers by showing His glory in that ministry. This challenge deeply impacted my own heart and caused me to ask once again why True Hope Counseling exists.
Does True Hope Counseling exist because we hope to be a well-known counseling center that operates with a large budget and is known for our counseling skills?
Or does True Hope Counseling exist because we long to point people to God and bring attention to God's glory?
Put another way, what is our desire when people leave our offices? Do we desire that they walk away thinking "Wow! Those True Hope Counselors are great! They helped me out so much! What an incredible ministry! It's so big and inspiring! Others need to hear about this ministry!"
Or do we desire that people leave our offices and think, "I want more of God! In fact, I'm desperate for God! I must have more of Him!" And as these people think this, are we willing for them to totally forget our names and faces and even our ministry as they do whatever it takes to seek more of God in their lives? Are we willing to fade into the background as God's glory shines through?
If our cause is the former reason then we as staff and Board members will be striving in our flesh at all times to make it happen. In the proces we will grow frustrated and spiritually and emotionally drained.
If, however, our cause is to point people to God and be catalysts in causing them to desire more of Him, then we will be more taken up with praying than trying to be the cause of it happening. As we pray for God to draw all men to Himself and show His glory in their lives all other needs we may have as a ministry will fall into place. I firmly believe this! May I never forget this!
On Labor Day weekend we will be repainting our offices and making them more condusive to counseling. Our one office was in drastic need of this and God has made provision for this to take place just in this past week! This was a huge answer to prayer for me personally and I am excited to see the finished product!
In my last newsletter I mentioned that Chad and Nichole were affected by the Flood of '06. They applied for FEMA aid and are still awaiting that aid at the time of this newsletter. In addition to that trial in their lives, Nichole lost her grandmother last week with whom she was exceptionally close. Please continue to pray for Chad and Nichole as they recover from flood damage and now deal with this recent loss.
Thank you for your support and prayers.
Blessings!
Melissa