About Me
Hi! I’m Gwen
Wife | Mother | Author
About Gwen
Hi, I’m Gwen. I am a lover of Jesus, a wife to Mark, the pastor, a mom to Elijah and Noah. I am a Buyer for a Furniture store and Interior Designer. I am a Writer, Speaker and Mentor. All of these passions fuel my fire to make all things beautiful from the inside-out.
I met Jesus at a very young age under my Uncle’s preaching and my parents bedside. Too afraid to walk the isle at my Uncle’s church, I cried all the way home until I could kneel beside my parent’s bed to ask Jesus to come live in my heart. Growing up in a broken home, I remember battling feelings of fear and insignificance most of my young life with glimpses of wholeness as Jesus and my mom walked by my side. I made the most of my broken childhood but still wrestled with the nagging hole in my heart and emotions.
Jesus really captured my heart in my early twenties and allowed my soul to heal after meeting and marrying Mark. I believed loving Mark, having a family and following Jesus was all the answers I needed to any difficulties along the way. Sadly, life does not come without difficulties and struggles.
The unraveling of our marriage started with feelings of anxiety and an overwhelming sense of fear that something was wrong in our marriage. But we were pastors. It was like I was in a deep dark hole and I could not get out. As the hidden secrets began to expose themselves, I sought counsel. When Mark joined the counsel, the uncovering of past secrets only sought to trap our marriage into a vicious cycle of anger and bitterness. With too many unanswered questions and the denial of the truth from Mark for so long, when the truth came, it felt like pouring salt into an open wound.
Finally, Mark was being transparent and I was just plain mad. Our marriage, ministry and our livelihood felt like it was crashing all around us.
But I discovered that when I faced all my fears and anxieties, God was there showing me a way out. Though I felt crippled at times, He nudged me to not stay in anger but to move forward in His love. So I made it my mission to be courageous and confront fear in any area of my life and the lives that God has allowed me influence in.
If you are married and in ministry, and you are faced with secrets within your marriage, you are not alone. There is healing. We pray our journey will encourage you with steps back to health.
About Me
Hi! I’m Mark
Husband | Father | Pastor
About Mark
Hi. I’m Mark. Husband to Gwen. Father to Elijah and Noah. Worship Leader and Pastor. Most importantly, I am a Son of the Most High God.
It took me years to let that fact get from my head to my heart, but I used to think that my most important role was that of Pastor. That was where I received my validation. That was where I received my affirmation. I ministered for years trying to please people…………so they would affirm and validate me. That is an impossible task. It sucked the life out of my soul, my life, my marriage.
Our story is one that lead us to counseling. It was there that the reality of my identity in Christ shifted from my head to my heart. It isn’t just a nice saying. It doesn’t just ‘preach well’. It is REAL!
HE validates me. HE affirms me. I am accepted because of HIM and not because of ME! Nothing is more important than that fact. Everything else flows from THAT place and not the other way around. I don’t live my day trying to do all the right things so that He will be pleased. I live everyday KNOWING that He is pleased and resting in the fact that I am accepted because of HIM and not because of ME! Son of the Most High God! The very Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And that………well……that changed everything.