One Date -- Two Milestones!

February 11, 2009 – just one year ago today – Fan the Flame first began; a small, insignificant pinpoint in the cyberspace blogosphere, really.

It started because of an incessant urging from God’s Spirit within me. You know that feeling…? Well this was one of those things that He just wouldn’t let up about (I guess that’s what’s meant by incessant, huh?). But I wrestled with the insecurity of thinking that I really didn’t have anything unique or significant to add to what others had said – and continue to say – so much better than me. I mean, c’mon…if you’ve ever read anything on this site, you’ve figured out pretty quickly that I’m not exactly what you’d call a scholar, right? I don’t possess any particularly special insights, and there’s certainly no one waiting in line to label me an intellectual! But still, God had lit something within me that I couldn’t shake – a 21st century “burning in my bones,” so to speak. So He just kept poking at my heart in that way of His, prodding me to do some small thing that might be used to, well…“fan the flame” of Christian passion, holy living, and Army mission.

So if FtF has ever – in any way – been useful, challenging, or encouraging to your Christian life, thanks be to God and His constant nudging! So may this Flame, as well as the flame of your holy passion, burn hotter and brighter in the days ahead of us.

Now let me tell you about the other flame that God ignited on this date…

On February 11, 1978 – thirty two years ago now(!) – Barbara Leidy and I became Willis and Barbara Howell! God’s gifts and blessings are always more than we deserve, aren’t they? That’s certainly the case with me being blessed with a life-partner like Barbara.

As often happens with the gifts God gives us, I have to admit that when we were first married, I didn’t come anywhere close to grasping the extent of the blessing I had been given with this woman, let alone all that she would come to mean to me (people who know me understand just how dim my bulb can be, at times!). But moment by moment, experience by experience, one day at time, the pages of thirty two years of life have steadily turned. His “Barbara gift” has continued to unfold, bringing delightful surprises and ever-deeper blessing. I find myself now filled with with wide-eyed wonder and gratitude to God for His incredible gift of Barbara to me.

Now as I look back from my present vantage point over the story of our life together – from then till now – I see that like any couple we’ve had our share of storms, challenges, and struggles (Barbara would call them “opportunities”). But what stands out as a testimony of God’s faithfulness to us, however, is that the problems and “opportunities” have only served to cause us to hold tighter in our love for each other and to drive our shared roots deeper into our dependency on God’s protection and grace.

For thirty two years, I’ve been blessed to have Barbara beside me, to feel her support of me, and to be on the receiving end of her love for me. Over this time, I’ve been rescued from any number of my own dumb choices or crazy ideas by her incredible, God-given insight, and have come to rely on the unimaginable peace of heart that comes through her prayers on my behalf. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I am far deeper in love with her, more strongly attached to her, and have a much greater appreciation for her now than ever before in my life. You see, we haven’t simply grown old together – we’ve matured together in Jesus.

I guess some flames just burn hotter over time…!

So here’s to anniversaries -- long ones and short ones -- and the Lord who works in and through them all to His glory.

I love you, Barbara…

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis