Ten years ago today (June 19th), Leslie and I were married at our church.  I remember it being a hot day.  I remember a friend of mine and I going for an early lunch that day.  Ironically, the wedding and reception went by so quick that I don’t remember almost any of it.  I remember seeing Leslie walk down the aisle.  I remember talking with her during the wedding ceremony.

Ten years has brought a lot of change.  We were talking last night about who we each were then and who we are now.  We have seen good times and bad times.  We have experienced births and deaths.  We have seen God work in us change that we never would have anticipated ourselves.

I was with a few newly weds the other day.  I was thinking about all the things I would like to tell them.  Here are just a few things that I have learned in 10 years of marriage…

• Marriage is a commitment, not just about a feeling.  You see people today (especially celebrities) get married and divorced in a matter of just a few years or even a few months.  What went wrong?  They “loved” each other enough to get married, what happened?  I think it could be a number of things but one is that it was not a commitment, it was based on a feeling.  In 10 years of marriage, there have been days where Leslie and I have not “jived” too well.  But we made a commitment to God and to each other.  I am with Leslie no matter how I feel, no matter what is being done or not being done, no matter how kind or rude she is (I am normally the rude one, not her).  No matter the problem, we are together.  It is a commitment.
• Don’t go to bed angry at each other.  Right before we were married, the Senior Citizens in our church each wrote down one piece of advice for us.  The majority of them (there were over 20 of them) said something like, “Don’t go to bed mad at one another.”  I thought that was strange.  Out of all the advice these older, experienced folks could give us, they chose, “Don’t go to be mad at each other.”  Again, the majority of them said that!  But in 10 years, I look back on many a night (especially early on) where we went to bed angry at each other (usually over something petty).
• Grow up/grow older together!  Leslie and I both recognize in each other that we are not married to the same person we said “I do” to at Victory Baptist Church on June 19, 2004.  We have both changed so much.  But Leslie made the comment last night, in these past ten years, “We have grown up together.”  I think people change.  That is what we do.  I think that husband and wife should change together.  That doesn’t mean that they change into the same type of person together (although I have seen that happen), but that we change into who we become with each other.  You don’t wake up one day and say, “Who is this person laying next to me?  I don’t even recognize her/him anymore!”  Grow up together.

I am so thankful for these past ten years.  We now have three daughters.  I have less hair and more belly (I liked it the other way better).  Leslie is even more beautiful now then the day we were married.  I am not just saying that.  I know it to be true.  God has been good to us!  This is truthfully a Happy Anniversary!

I wanted to take a post and talk about my Pastor. Derik Lawrence is our Pastor at Victory Baptist Church. Pastor Derik has worked in almost every ministry in Victory Baptist Church. He has now been Pastor for 10 years!  Before that, he was the Youth Pastor, and before that he was serving in other many other positions. He was Children’s Pastor, bus driver, toilet cleaner, “grass cutter”, Youth Pastor, cook, Camp Director, Sunday School Teacher, Assistant Pastor, and many, many other positions.

His desire is to see Victory grow and send out men to reach many others. He has been used of God to train up young men that are now missionaries, soon-to-be missionaries, and pastoral staff. Here are a few (certainly not all)…

• Missionary in Cambodia
• Missionary in the British Isles (husband and wife)
• Missionary to South Africa (husband and wife)
• Missionary to Chile
• Missionary (not clear on location)
• Missionary to Argentina (husband and wife)
• Youth/Assistant Pastor
• Assistant Pastor

These are all products of the ministry God has used him to build. I think that this speaks for itself. But I want to be clear, the men and women above are sufficient fruit in themselves, but Pastor Derik is not done! There are other young men being trained right now to go out and do the same! There are also young men that are coming down the pike that will, Lord willing, surrender and start the process of training under Pastor Derik.

I think the first thing that Pastor would do when responding to this is that he would immediately deflect all of this to Jesus. He would not take any of the credit, but clearly explain it is all done for Jesus and all done by Jesus.

I am thankful for a Pastor like Pastor Derik Lawrence!

Learning From Others

“You keep working on it” – Pastor Edwards  

This is the advice I received while at a church in North Carolina.  That day was Pastor and Mrs. Edwards’ 61st anniversary.  We had a great time with them.  When I asked him to give us advice as a younger married couple (we’ve been married 10 years later this month), he replied, “You keep working on it!”  To him, marriage is a commitment, not a just a feeling.  I am thankful for men that God has put in my life to help guide us.  As a missionary, I believe the second most important relationship I have is with Leslie (obviously second to the relationship with our LORD)!  I want us to only grow closer!

The month of May has brought us closer to Argentina, with more churches partnering with us!  We are humbled by what God is doing!  Please pray that God will continue to guide us, that churches will see what God is doing and partner with us.

This Month
In June, we have meetings in Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, and Texas.  We also have our annual Our Generation Camp on June 09-13, 2014.  The OG Camp has a special missions emphasis!  We hope to see many campers surrender to world missions!  We are trusting God, scheduling meetings, preaching and proclaiming God’s plan for our lives in Argentina, and making an impact on those we meet along the way.  God is at work, and we get to be a part of it!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, and Ivy Henry

Below are my thoughts from my daily Bible reading.  This was from a few days ago and I am still thinking about it.  These are my raw thoughts.

Bible Reading:  2nd Chronicles 21-24