Journey to the Heart of God Aug. 26th
A retreat for women to find real love
in their marriages
By Jim Day
Joy springing from the heart of the perfect Bridegroom, Jesus
Christ, is infectious. Over the past
eighteen years, the women of Hidden Heart Ministry have reached out to hundreds
of married women through mentoring classes and through their book, The Cry of the Hidden Heart, to share
the joy of the journey with Christ. The women of Hidden Heart Ministry are
committed to providing other women with the vision of God’s plan for marriage, practical
help to institute godly principles in their marriages, and the skills to offer
hope to the next generation by passing on those principles.
Finding real love and joy in marriage is the focal point of a
day-long retreat for women, Journey to
the Heart of God, to be held Saturday, August 26, at the Doubletree Hotel
in Chesterfield, MO. The event is planned for women of all ages whether married,
about to be married, those considering marriage or supporters of God’s ordained
institution of marriage.
Birth of a Ministry
Hidden Heart Ministry was birthed amidst tears of grief as friends
gathered to console a friend in her self-described “dead marriage.” They combed the Scriptures, Genesis through Revelation, for 
wisdom
in knowing how to pray. Coming from different denominations and churches,
different life experiences and a 35-year age span, the seven -- Mary Jo Walker,
Joan Kehr, Dawn Allred, Linda Huffman, Ellen Mayes, Mary Suzanne Crockett,
and Karen Bacon -- were bound together in the common goal of discovering God’s
best for their marriages. Dawn, an education specialist and a seminary graduate
and Linda, a biblical counselor and director of women’s ministries in her
church, were considered the “pros” because of their backgrounds in teaching
and counseling, while the other five considered themselves amateurs (amateurs
in the best sense of the word, meaning lovers, those who are passionate about
a particular pursuit). Together they called themselves “Sarah’s Daughters.”
Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping
may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” As God turned the spotlight of His Word on the
hidden hearts and minds of these seven women, the fog began to lift revealing
hurtful attitudes that had blighted the vitality of their marriages -- disrespect,
pride, neglect, independence, self-absorption and control, to name just a
few. With this new dawning came a very
vivid picture of the absolutely essential role these women had been called
to as God’s ambassadors, making visible the invisible kingdom of God in their
marriages. The morning did indeed come with rejoicing, not only in their freshly
scrubbed hearts but in revitalized marriages as God began to inspire and train
them in new ways of relating to their husbands.
The prayer of their hearts came from Jeremiah 6:16: “This is what
the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask
where the good way is, and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.’” In their quest, it became clear to the Sarah’s
Daughters that the soul hunger they had expected their husbands to fill could
only be satisfied by the perfect Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. In her search for the “good way” Ellen Mayes
recalled, “I thought I was doing everything right. After all I had been a
Christian for fifteen years. But God had
to circumcise my heart to allow me to really see myself.”
Mary Suzanne Crockett, the youngest of the Sarah’s Daughters,
knows the value of being mentored by an older woman. She shared this story: “My journey with this
group began when I was being courted by a wonderful man who is now my
husband. When we were engaged to be
married, I was of course, very motivated to find out all I could about how to
have a great marriage and be a godly wife. I saw a passion and love in these
women for their husbands that I wanted to have for my fiancé. Looking back, I see how easy I thought life
would be when everything was so hypothetical!
I was quite sure our marriage would not be plagued by the problems I had
heard others share. Our love would
conquer all! Then I got married. I soon found out our love did not conquer all
but that didn’t keep me from trying to conquer him and mold him into my image
of a godly Christian husband. I knew
that God wanted him to be the spiritual leader of our home and I was happy to
lead him in learning how to lead me. However,
after several months of marriage my husband actually accused me of “spiritual
harassment” and the more I thought about it, I realized he had shot a bulls eye
right through my arrogant heart. So I returned to learn from God’s Word and
these older, wiser women what it really meant to be a wife after God’s own
heart. I was still motivated but far
more humble and teachable.”
Growth of the Ministry
As God began to change their lives, other women started
approaching them for help with their marriage issues -- often the very same
issues that they themselves were dealing with.
Karen Bacon explained, “We needed some kind of lesson plan to share with
other women about the journey we had taken through the Scriptures to get Jesus’
thinking on what godly marriage looked like.
As with much of the Church today, our attitudes had been colored by the
feminist line; in some cases it took years to bring our thinking into line with
God’s Word.” Karen began compiling and organizing
the notes she had taken from their studies and discussions at Joan Kehr’s home.
Ultimately that led to the publication of a book entitled, The Cry of the Hidden Heart.
The Cry of
the Hidden Heart reflects their
belief that the heart’s cry of women today is, first of all, for a satisfying
and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and the joy of loving their husbands
as Jesus loved them. Joan, the senior
member of the group, put it this way: “We are convinced it is that elusive soul
rest that causes so much discontent and confusion among married women and sends
them out in all different directions to ‘find themselves.’ It wasn’t until I
cried to the Lord out of the ashes of a dead marriage that Christ took over and
in my case, gave me a tender compassionate heart for my husband. I no longer saw him with blinders on ready to
judge, train, correct or manipulate. I
got in his boat, or on his motorcycle, saw his adventurous spirit and, wonder
of wonders, he became ‘captivated by the love of the wife of his youth.’” (Proverbs 5)
Sarah’s Daughters have been asked how their book, The Cry of the Hidden Heart, differs
from the plethora of other marriage books on the shelf. “Clearly, God was taking us beyond formulas
to principles and attitudes of the heart,” Mary Suzanne Crockett explained. “Many
books on marriage focus on the ‘how to,’ but we wanted to give women a vision
of the high esteem God holds them in and the special place He has ordained for
them in marriage as women of influence.
Although our book was written for women with ordinary day-to-day
challenges in their marriages, Sarah’s Daughters have seen God work miracles in
near-hopeless relationships. Many books
are therapeutic in nature and concentrate on healing broken hearts and families,
but our aim was to be preventative in scope by presenting God’s plan and
purpose for marriage in God’s kingdom.”
To quote their book, “Christian women sometimes fail to realize
that they are persons of influence. And,
as such, they have the privilege of bearing the very essence of Christ to their
husbands and in their homes. The method
prescribed in Scripture for those who have answered the high calling as
followers of Christ Jesus, are those of the ‘gentle and quiet spirit which is
of great worth in God’s sight.’
Unfortunately, some of us have tried to become ‘Super Christians’ by
using the world’s methods of influence.
The meek and quiet spirit is produced as we yield to the Lordship of
Christ. . .Being yoked to Christ does not mean that we will become a doormat,
but that we will walk in blessed fellowship with our Lord, living our lives by
His power at work in us to the praise of His glory.”
For the past five years, Hidden Heart Ministry has offered classes
at the Town and Country campus of Westminster Christian Academy as well as
in local churches. More recently, new
classes have sprung up in Washington, MO, Sarasota, FL, Memphis, TN, and Tempe,
AZ. For further information on the ministry, the retreat, their book or DVD
visit their website, www.hiddenheartministry.com.
