Courtney

Before God, before man, the vows were made.

Till death do us part. For as long as we both shall live. Forever and beyond. Sacred and holy.

And then they were broken.

Courtney Tucker is living with a man who has torn her heart to pieces. After eight years of marriage and two precious children, her husband Stuart has turned on her in the worst of all betrayals.

He got involved with a young woman at work, and since Courtney found out about it, he sees no need to hide it. He has openly carried on his relationship with this other woman in front of his wife and two precious children.

One minute he is completely removed from his marriage, and the next she will see glimpses of the man she married. The cry of her heart is that God would heal her marriage and bring her husband back to Him.

Their marriage has had many challenges from the start. A little over a month after they had been married, they found out that they were expecting a very unplanned baby. That baby, who was a boy named T, was born three months early and spent over a month in the NICU. They were in no way prepared to have a baby so soon, and the whole situation, from having the baby in the first place to having the baby under such circumstances, put a strain on their relationship. Finally, and thankfully, their little one was released from the hospital, and a mere two months later, just days after T's due date, they found out another baby was on the way.

They were overwhelmed. T, being a preemie, was a needy little one, put demands on them both, and although Stuarts parents lived in town they offered no help or support and that made the strain even more severe. They decided that the best thing they could do was move in with Courtney's parents, which proved to help in the matters they considered and ones they had not because their second pregnancy ended up having complications of its own.

Now, here they are, seven years later, two broken people with a broken marriage in great need of healing and Courtney is discouraged, and in great need of someone to lift her up. Please, go to her blog, and give her some encouraging words.

Karlynn

This is a guest post written by Michelle, who is a friend of Karlynn's. She nominated her to be our very first featured blogger.

The best time for me in youth group was when we were doing a musical. And in the early ‘90's every good Christian youth musical had a rap scene and neon costumes. I can still remember the green and orange striped outfit I was wearing when I met a shy and talented girl named Karlynn. She became a integral part of our youth group.

Twelve years ago I moved away and we lost contact. We’ve recently reconnected through FaceBook and blogs. It was fun to run into her in real life last summer when I was visiting our home church.

Karlynn is married to Jeff and they have four beautiful children. They’ve been going through a series of trials which I’ll let her share with you through her blog. She recently went back to work to help meet her family’s financial needs as her husband goes back to school. I think all moms feel torn about working outside the home and trying to balance contributing financially with raising your children. But right now Karlynn is serving her family in a new way and continuing to meet their needs.

So please join me in encouraging my friend Karlynn Mattfield.

We have been given an opportunity to be a blessing to Karlynn. Please go to her blog and give her some encouragement.

We're getting started tomorrow!!!

We're finally ready to get started! What do you think about the new look?

Abigail Kraft, who is the daughter of Lynette Kraft at Dancing Barefoot, did a fantastic job on our blog makeover. I still can't get over how great it looks. She is an awesome designer, and she was great to work with. She donated her time and talent to help us get going, and we are so grateful for all that she's done.

Just take a look at that header. She's amazing.

If you're thinking about having your own blog redone, be sure to check with Abigail. She's one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. I told her when she agreed to do this that I would be praying for God to bless her business, and I believe that He will.

Abigail also has a great blog, and the cutest blog carnival called Short Answers, which she hosts every Tuesday.

So, in following, you agreed to leave a comment on every post, right? Well, this isn't the type of post that will be the norm here, but I still think that a thank you is in order. So, please hop over to Abigail's blog and leave a comment for her, thanking her for the fabulous job that she's done.

This is, after all, your blog.

So, get your encouragement ready. Tomorrow, we are going to begin a journey that will make a huge impact on lives, our own included.