1.    RECENTLY....

......One of our Genesis counselors walked into a local store.  The manager came up and asked:  "Excuse me, but aren't you_________ from Genesis?"  The counselor looked at the manager and had no idea who she was. 

"You probably  don't remember me, but the Lord used you to save my marriage 15 years ago!" This manager was older - and the counselor was too!  But as the story was told, it all came back into view.  Especially when this manager described the dilemma she and her husband had faced.

Immediately, the situation was clear in the couselor's mind, who remembered the difficulty this particular couple had been facing.  They were separated at the beginning and the end of the counseling duration.  They didn't like each aother, much less love each other, but were still committed to learning new ways to communicate about their multiude of problems.  Like many of the couples who come to Genesis, they were in their second marriage and had children from each of their previous relationships. It seemed humanly impossible that this couple could get through the healing process and "turn the corner" to a new kind of conflict resolution. 

BUT THEY MADE IT - AND WERE NOW CLOSER THAN THEY COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED!

When asked by the counselor, what had made the difference, this wife simply said: "We went to see our pastor, who felt we needed a more experienced Christian counselor for the kinds of problems we faced, so he referred us to Genesis.  At first, we really appreciated the level of professionalism and true biblical Christian perspective you provided. But we started rebelling when you got to the really tough stuff! We really didn't know how to make the commitment at that time to the new level you were moving us toward."

Not only did we make you work really hard, but we left the counseling process blaming our problems on you because you hadn't cured us!"  This of course made the counselor smile.  At Genesis, we understand that overcoming this kind of resistance to real change is often a part fo the process.  We never give up on anyone - because God never gave up on us!

"When we left counseling, the things you had helped us learn started coming back to us.  We began exaggerating our efforts to speak kindly to each other and quit interrupting, blaming and YES-BUTTING. And then, we even started praying together for the first time in seven years of our CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE. After SIX MEETINGS with you, we went back to our pastor, who now had something to work with.  We got involved in a couples small group who were all practicing the same things you had taught us."

"One day we woke up in a completely different place in our marriage.  We went through hell to get there - but now it all seems more than worth it to have a marriage we could never had dreamed.  I'm so glad to run into you, so I could finally tell you how much we appreciated the help you gave us."

There are two very appropriate counselor responses at this point.

TO THE PREVIOUS COUNSELEE: "Thank you for making my day - with this great reminder about why I do what I do!"

TO THE LORD: "Thank You for the timely reminder that I'm a part of a blessing that is always bigger than what I could possibly imagine!"

2.  NOT TOO LONG AGO.......

He had been hopitalized three times for suicide attempts before coming to Genesis .  Two of these attempts would have succeeded if he hadn't been rescued by the paramedics just in time.  The other attempt would probaly have disabled him for life.

He has now been back at work for three years and even though he still bears the emotional and physical scars of his past experience, he is "running with endurance the race set before him"  Hebrews 12:1-2

"Tune in" later for more on this amazing story!

3. A WHILE BACK......

It occurred to one of our female counselors that she was seeing several women who had come for similar reasons.  BASICALLY THEY WERE ALL MARRIED TO HUSBANDS WHO WERE JERKS! So she decided to get them together for a group experience.  Little did she know that these NINE WOMEN would be together as a group for almost four years  - OR -  that four other groups would be started and led by some of these women, and six other groups would generate from these!

Like many such groups, these women spent a lot of time in the initial stages BASHING THEIR HUSBANDS. Eventually, they started focussing on their personal contributions to their marital problems.