A few weeks ago our real estate agent left the house saying, “You probably want to replace this door handle. It’s not looking too good anymore.”

The truth is, it looked terrible. The gold handle was smudged, scratched up, and dirty–not to mention it was the first thing you saw when you arrived on our doorstep.

The next day, Michael called me to the front door. “How do you like the new handle?” he asked.

Our shiny new handle was gleaming. “How much did that cost us?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “It’s the old handle. I just took it off, and spent 45 minutes working on cleaning it up.”

As I got to thinking about that today, I was reminded of broken relationships that are cast to the side. You know, the ones that people give up on when all hope is lost. Broken marriages, fragmented families, and friendships that ended in pain. How many opportunities for prayer and restoration have been over looked?

Remember the story of Jacob and Esau. In Genesis chapter 27, Jacob tricked his father Isaac into giving him Esau’s birthright. Esau was so angry he intended to kill Jacob. Years later, when Jacob got word that his brother Esau was coming to see him he was rightly concerned. Horrified perhaps, but the Bible tells us that Esau ran to meet Jacob, embraced him and kissed his neck.

Let’s not overlook the fact that the night before they met, Jacob wrestled with God all night long saying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

By this, we see that persistence is key. Jacob refused to give up on God. He refused to let go until he was blessed.

I know, sometimes it seems that it’s long past the point of repair. Some days it just feels impossible, and other days it feels even worse. But I also know that nothing is hopeless in the hands of an almighty God. If we want to see change, we need to start believing in the power of God, and we need to be persistent in prayer.

You need to plead with God to do what only He can do, and then you need to get out of the way and let Him do it. – Miss Clara, The War Room


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Tilling the Soil

Take time this week to pray for broken relationships. If you don’t have any of your own, perhaps there are others you know of that are in need of prayer. Also, read the restoration of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 32:22-33:11.

Planting Hope

Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. (Jeremiah 32:17, KJV)


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Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.

She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.

It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical FitnessReshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.

Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.

Connect with Darlene:

Facebook: @timewarpwife
Instagram: @timewarpwife
Pinterest: @timewarpwife
Twitter: @timewarpwife

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife