Audrea's 1st Post!

The hardest part of this first post is knowing where to start.  I guess I will start with telling you a little about myself.  I'm 30 yrs old (yes, Michael's 10 yrs older! HAHA).  I'm a stay at home wife of Michael, and mom to Jonathan .  I'm from Alexander City,AL.  We moved to Nashville,TN in June 2009.  I LOVE it here!!  :)  I'm a Christ follower.  I LOVE all the awesome Christian music we have these days.  You will most likely see videos on a lot of my posts.  Recently we started the ministry that Michael mentioned.  It's a non profit called Love Feeds.  You will hear more about it in future posts.  Feel free to go to http://www.lovefeeds.org/ if you'd like to know more about it now. :)

What will my part of the blog be about you ask?? Well,it will be about many things.  Whatever God lays on my heart for that particular day.  You will hear some about my childhood, my time as a single mother and all the struggles that went along with it, my life now, and the hopes for the future.  I started to call this blog Broken Together, but it wasn't available. So, it came to mind, Mending Together.  God is mending us together and that is more important than all the brokeness we've both experienced.  He wants us to tell about the things we've been through and show how He heals and mends.  He wants to use it to show other broken people that He can heal and mend them.  No matter how broken your life may seem, it's NEVER too broken for God to mend it!! God will use us in many ways, for His Glory!  He is a mender of broken hearts and lives.  We will also talk about the mistakes we've made and how the grace of God covers them all with the blood of Jesus!  No sin is too great that He can't forgive and the blood of Jesus can't cover! 

So,here's a video for my first post.  It's a video about being more than all the mistakes and things in your life.  You are MORE thanks to Jesus!!

Michael's 1st Post!

I think introductions are needed to begin any kind of relationship.  Should you choose to continue your journey in getting to know my wife and I,you will begin and end in truth.

I am no one you would notice or who would stand out in a crowd unless effort puts a twinkle in your eye.  I am a server.  I work at an upscale pizza place.  I am 40 yrs old.  You would notice though that I work hard.  I do still spend a good bit of time horseplaying with the "kids" at work.  I didn't have a healthy childhood and now I have a little "Peter Pan" syndrome.  However,when you ask me to get something done,it's finished!  I have managed many times in different places and found I am very good at that,too.  I like to be honest.  Most of the time I pull it off with gentleness and kindness.  However,a donkey lurks inside of me and sometimes I make one of myself! (my wife would agree! lol)  I have learned to be quick to give a sincere apology and quick to forgive as well.  The forgiving part can be the hardest since I am prone to sulk while thinking about it.  Sometimes a drive and a radio broadcast of preaching or a song is what it takes to stir my senses.

The most important parts of my life are God, my wife, son, and our family.  God has changed who my family is.  My family is all my brothers and sisters in Christ.  My wife and son have also changed this.  Until April 3,2008 (our anniversary),my life was a series of tragic events.  The words "you can't do anything right", "No one will ever love you", "you'll never amount to anything!", "you should've never been born", "you're not a member of this family", and "leave,leave,leave!".  I'm not going to say I was a perfect child, I wasn't.  I did things.  I lied a lot.  I was always caught in it.  This is something my mother taught me as a defense mechanism for a tyranical father and husband. 

Audrea brought me a family!  For the first time I believe I am beginning to really know what it's like to belong, to be truely loved.  One thing love does is make contact with you and doesn't hurt.  Audrea's family accepted me and loved me as their own, the way God loves us.  The family of God is growing and my perception of who God's family is, is growing also.  God always has something for us.  He has a plan. 

God has given me a heart for the outcasts of this world.  For the child or adult who has suffered physcial, verbal, or sexual abuse, rape or molestation.  Those are things my heart cries out against.  I want to help.  When I see homeless or those suffering from substance abuse, my heart cries out.  Children sold into sex slavery, my heart cries out.  People living without basic needs,  my heart cries out.  My wife and I have formed a ministry that we hope the rest of our lives,and beyond, strives to meet the needs of these people I just mentioned.  We want to demonstrate the love of Jesus to them.

I have certainly learned that I am a broken vessel.  God is mending me and Audrea.  We are beginning to do this together.  That's what this blog will focus on, mending together.  We both have our flaws and both have been shattered, but God is a mender.  When He fixes you,  you perform just as you should.

Michael