Across My Heart Ministries

We sat down in the velvet upholstered seats at the Broadway Theater. Marquee bulbs lit up the entrance with a warm glow as we made our way through a bustling crowd of eager theater goers.

It was our tenth anniversary, and we ended our celebration at the historic Broadway Theatre with tickets to see the Great Gatsby. A bucket list item for sure!!

For those that don’t know, the storyline revolves around two loveless marriages. It was a seemingly odd choice for an anniversary… but it proved to be a cautionary tale with a powerful message: Chasing fantasies will not cure your disenchantment with reality. True riches come, not by giving the green light to your desires but through pursuing what is true and good.

Leaving the Broadway Theater that night, we were struck by the poignant reminder that covenant love is not only worth protecting. It is worth pursuing. While it can be far too easy to become disenchanted with reality, chasing fantasies is never the answer. In life and in love, there are many worldly desires that call out for us, promising something better. But the Great Gatsby reminds us that you can never escape reality.

Reality may not always be as glamorous as a gilded Gatsby party. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, real life marriages include every part of the struggle. But choosing to embrace reality is the only choice that leads to true love… a love that is good. A love that is real. ❤️

After 10 years of marriage, we don’t want to simply celebrate what we’ve had or take it for granted. We don’t want to wind up in a loveless marriage or, worse yet, chasing a fantasy. We want to continue putting in the work and continue choosing the goodness of covenant love as we embrace this beautiful reality of ours together. ❤️

Read the full blog at acrossmyheartministries.com

Our Essay Contest will bring the talents and passions of Gen Z to our youth conference this year!

2024 ESSAY PROMPTS:

FEMINISM: How has feminism affected society for better and for worse?

ABORTION: How can our churches help mothers choose life?

S*X TRAFFICKING: How can we fight against s*x trafficking in our world?

ABSTINENCE: When premarital s*x is the norm, what makes it worth the wait?

The top three contest winners will be invited to present at the Pursuit Youth Conference, November 9, and claim up to $100 in prizes. Any other essays published on our website will win $25 each.

OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES:
+ Middle and High school students (6-12th grade) are eligible to compete.
+ Contestants must research and write an original essay addressing one of our four official essay prompts on abstinence, abortion, s*x trafficking, or feminism.
+ The essay should be approximately 500 words. A contestant will be disqualified if under 400 or over 700.
+ The essays must be submitted by October 10, 2024 on our website below.
+ The essay should use up-to-date, factual information (statistics within the last 5 years).
+ The essay must include Christian application and at least one Bible verse.

More info on our website: https://acrossmyheartministries.com/essay/

What a joy to speak to the First Baptist Middleville Youth Group last week on s*x, purity, and the motive of the heart by taking a look at the Biblical account of Joseph!

I get to give this same talk again tomorrow night to a YA group in Dorr as we count down the days to our Pursuit: Youth Conference! If you're a middle or high school student in West Michigan... we hope to see you there!

Who is getting excited for Pursuit 2024? We are!

Register now: https://acrossmyheartministries.com/pursuit-conference/

Pursuit 2023 Recap

Less than two weeks left to submit your essay for our first ever essay contest!

WHAT ARE THE RULES?
+ Middle and High school students (6-12th grade) are eligible to compete.
+ Contestants must research and write an original essay addressing one of our four official essay prompts on abstinence, abortion, s*x trafficking, or feminism.
+ The essay should be approximately 500 words. A contestant will be disqualified if under 400 or over 700.
+ The essays must be submitted by October 10, 2024 on our website: https://acrossmyheartministries.com/ESSAY/
+ The essay should use up-to-date, factual information (statistics within the last 5 years).
+The essay must include Christian application and at least one Bible verse.

2024 ESSAY PROMPTS:
FEMINISM: How has feminism affected society for better and for worse?
ABORTION: How can our churches help mothers choose life?
S*X TRAFFICKING: How can we fight against s*x trafficking in our world?
ABSTINENCE: When premarital s*x is the norm, what makes it worth the wait?

HOW IS AN ESSAY SCORED?
Contestants are scored in four areas: content, grammar, persuasion and Biblical application. Contestants are scored by three judges and given a score of 1-10 (10 being the best) in each area. The scores are added together (40 being perfect). The three judges’ scores are added together for the grand total. The judges’ decision is considered final.

WHAT ARE THE PRIZES?
$100 1st Place Prize *

$50 2nd and 3rd Place Prize *

*1st-3rd place winners must be able to present their winning essay at the Pursuit Youth Conference November 9 in order to claim their prize.

Not into public speaking but still want to have a voice? A select number of essays will win $25 and be published on our website.

Dannah is always worth the listen! This beautifully captures her passion for purity and God's plan to redeem every part of us

Passionate about Purity For a long time, Dannah Gresh knew she had been forgiven for impure choices as a teenager. But when she confessed those past choices to her husband, she felt complete freedom.

TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURSUIT 2024!

This year’s theme is Please Stand By, inspired by Romans 8.

We will be challenging youth to stand by, stand up and stand out for Jesus!

When we look at our world today, we can see things are pretty messed up. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be. But God tells us we are part of His Kingdom. We think differently, live differently and love differently than the world!

You'll uncover God’s good design for s*xuality, scientific support for scriptural truths, a greater respect for your body, and true confidence in your identity in Christ as we await His glory!!

Biblically speaking, the pursuit of purity is about more than “following the rules”. It’s always been about pursuing the only One who can make all things new. That’s what Pursuit is all about!

Romans 8:19-21, “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bo***ge to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”

More Info: https://acrossmyheartministries.com/pursuit-conference/

Tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/acrossmyheartministries/1378645

Contest Details: https://acrossmyheartministries.com/essay/

Reminiscing on the birth of our first born ❤️

I thought I loved you then.

When we shared a laugh over a pack of Twizzlers and I realized you were my best friend. I thought I loved you then.

When the party was over but it wasn’t over for us because you still had to drive me home and we talked for hours in the driveway that night. I thought I loved you then.

When you got down on one knee in the cold December snow, I thought I loved you then.

When I stood at the altar, dressed in white, I thought I loved you then.

But then.

In a dimly lit hospital room, you held my hand for hours. You rubbed my back as contractions spiked on the monitor screen and my body writhed with labor pains. I locked eyes with you, in too much shock to speak, and you never left my side. You told me to push and helped lift that screaming baby girl onto my chest and in that moment, I loved you more. There she was. Our little girl. Years of love all bundled up in a striped hospital blanket.

And isn’t that what love is? It can’t keep to itself. It can’t stay confined. For God so loved the world that He gave... Love gives of itself. It multiplies. It grows.

I loved you when you were my friend. Boyfriend. Fiancé. Then husband. And now you are her father. She has your hair, your nose, your eyelashes and smile. You give of yourself to be her daddy. And every time I look at her I love you more than I ever could.

Ladies, let me tell you this: True love waits. True love stays. And true love just gets better with time. 💛☀️💛

After labor, I write each of my daughters a special lullaby. The lyrics of their song are inspired by their birth story. They might seem like simple little poems, but the lyrics are drenched in meaning for me, each word seared into my consciousness, bringing me back to their birth as I sing over them...

The theme for Julia’s lullaby is our God of Comfort.

Her labor was only 3.5 hours long but the moments that followed had me crying out to Jesus for comfort. After a number of strenuous pushes, I felt them lay Julia on my chest. Usually this is a moment of sweet relief. The pain should have been over. But not this time. Something was different.

Cry Out to Jesus [Julia’s Lullaby] - Across My Heart Every mom will tell you that birth is an incredibly emotional experience, divinely ordained to usher new life into this world. As a mother, your body is the very vessel that God uses to create something beautiful. You get to participate with God in the creation of life. There are few things more hum...

My husband Joseph and I took a trip to NYC on our 10 year anniversary. Everyone says a Broadway Show is a MUST when you're there. But we had no idea which one?!

Turns out our choice was oddly perfect for an anniversary. It was a cautionary tale that recognized the beauty of true love by exposing the consequences of unfaithful fantasies...

A Cautionary Tale on Our 10 Year Anniversary - Across My Heart A DAY IN MANHATTAN We sat down in the velvet upholstered seats at the Broadway Theater. Marquee bulbs lit up the entrance with a warm glow as we made our way through a bustling crowd of eager theater goers. Some were dressed to the nines in their glitzy flapper era attire and others looked like

Just sent an email blast to local youth pastors about Pursuit 2024! If you know a youth pastor who should know about our annual youth conference, let us know... we'd love to get them involved!

Great article from our friends at Stand to Reason

When Is a Couple Considered Married? When is a couple considered married? After the ceremony? When they sign the license? After s*x? Robby Lashua looks at what the Bible has to say about this question.

June arrives with a colorful splash of rainbow graphics filling my page. Most are clever quips defensively celebrating Pride Month and some are strongly worded Christian memes calling for repentance.

But you know what I haven't seen? A humble reminder to confess the pride in our own hearts....

Our Pride Comes in Many Colors - Across My Heart As the rainbow flag proudly waves over my city’s Pride Festival this weekend, a prism of color fills my instagram feed with stories of friends coming out and reminding the world that love is love. But what is love? I ask. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is...

Holy Saturday, or as some call it, Black Saturday, is the day in-between the passing of Jesus Christ, his burial in the tomb, and his resurrection day.

Some 2,000+ years ago, Jesus follower’s could be found “holding their breath” and wrestling with deep issues of faith. They had just seen their Lord and promised deliverer be murdered, and they had not yet seen Him risen, and while Old Testament prophecies had spoken of this, given their previous expectations of what they thought fulfillment of the promises would look like, they were likely not all aware of what they could expect the next day. As far as they could tell with their physical eyes, He had failed them and left the world with unfulfilled promises to be their Savior.

We as humans can easily despair when we lose sight of Jesus and His plan, but Holy Saturday reminds us there are battles being fought for us, even when we do not see them. It also gives us permission to feel deeply the emotions of unfulfilled expectations and to sit in the discomfort of faith when it is tested. We see that expressed over and over in the Psalms by David. He had confidence in God, but that did not mean he did not get uncomfortable and cry out for answers, and God repeatedly came through. Just as with Jesus’s death. The story does not end at the cross, and it did not end in the grave, for Sunday was coming…even when no one could see how it was possible.

Written by

Read the rest in Journey with Jesus, our 8 day Holy Week digital download.

“No one can pay except God, and no one ought to pay except man.” (Anselm, Proslogion)

On Good Friday we remember that we have nothing to give, so God generously gave Himself to us (John 3:16).

It is His love that wills us into existence. And it is His love that motivates Him to save that which He had created. Jesus willingly chose to sacrifice Himself in our place, to restore order over creation, to restore relationship with the Father, and to make a way for the human race to be spared the condemnation of Hell. The cross is the ultimate cross section of God’s justice and love.

When Jesus says, “It is finished”, He knows it doesn’t end in death. In just three short days, the true ending will be unveiled - the victory of Resurrection Life and the promise of new life to all who trust in Him.

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day Jesus celebrated Passover (the Last Supper) with his disciples. The Last Supper is especially significant because Jesus used the elements of bread and wine to symbolize something greater: his body and blood. The Last Supper was actually the first communion!

The Passover Bread (matzah) is unleavened, just as the Israelites were told to remove all the yeast from their homes we are told to remove the sin from our lives. Paul charges us to: “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The matzah is also striped and pierced, reminding us that Jesus’ hands were pierced with nails and his body whipped (Isaiah 53:5, Zechariah 12:10; Revelation 1:7).

There are four different cups of wine used during the Seder: The Cup of Sanctification, The Cup of Judgment, The Cup of Redemption, and the Cup of Praise. It was the third cup – the Cup of Redemption— that Jesus said, “This wine is my blood, which will be poured out to forgive the sins of many and begin the new agreement from God to his people.” Matthew 26:28

There is so much significance to the Passover Meal! It shows the beautiful continuity of the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures. The Passover was a celebration of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites and how God’s faithful promises were ultimately fulfilled through Christ! His body was broken for us.

Today is Spy Wednesday, the day Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. While it’s easy to vilify Judas, remember, Judas isn’t solely responsible for Christ’s death. It was our sin that held Him there. We are all guilty of condemning Christ to the cross. May Judas’ shocking betrayal remind us to question our own motives and consider where our loyalties lie.

Ponder:

Judas betrayed Jesus for a cost. What is Jesus worth to you? Your popularity? Your entertainment choices? Your freedom? Your business relations? What about your life? At what cost will you follow Christ?

Pray:

Forgive us, Lord, for nailing you to the cross. Forgive us for the sins that held you there.

For daily prayers and reflections this Holy Week, follow along in our 45 page digital devotional: Journey with Jesus

Today is Holy Tuesday, the most forgotten day of Holy Week. But the day which Jesus had the most to say!

I’ve often wondered what I would do or say if I knew I was going to die. And, as Christ was preparing for His sacrificial death, this day encompasses his final teachings. What was pressing on his heart?

The Kingdom of Heaven.

At the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse, a prophetic description of Jerusalem’s destruction and the End Days. He doesn’t hold any punches. This is some intense stuff. He is warning us of what is to come, and much of this is still prophecy for us. He reveals His Second Coming and the Final Judgment through a series of parables, many of which you may be familiar with. But like me, maybe you didn’t realize these parables were taught days before his death and Resurrection:

The Parable of the Two Sons
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
The Parable of the Tenants
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
The Parable of the Talents

Throughout these parables, Jesus is finally revealing who he is. He is revealing the coming Judgement and that He is the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.

When Christ returns, He will be coming as a Judge. It could happen any day. Are you ready? Do you fear the End Days or do you trust that His death and Resurrection made the way to save you from your sins?

Today is Holy Monday, the day Jesus cleansed the temple. You can find the passage in the gospel accounts: Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48

Our 45 page Journey with Jesus printable download features a short devotion, reflection questions and prayers for each day of Holy Week! We hope it blesses you!

Today is Palm Sunday 🌴 Why the palm branches? Date Palms are majestic trees, native to the Holy Land. Symbolizing victory, they were often engraved on coins and buildings as a symbol of royalty (Leviticus 23:40, Nehemiah 8:15). 1 Kings tells us King Solomon had them carved on the walls all around the temple.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem they were honoring him as king, declaring “Hosanna”!

In a dark turn of events, scholars believe this same crowd were the ones who demanded his crucifixion. Charles Spurgeon preached, “You must not imagine that all those who strewed the branches in the way and cried “Hosanna” cared about Christ as a spiritual prince. No, they thought that he was to be a temporal deliverer, and when they found out afterwards that they were mistaken, they hated him just as much as they had loved him, and “Crucify him, crucify him,” was as loud and vehement a cry as “Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

As the Holy Week begins with this excitable crowd, looking to God for the wrong things, may it remind us to anticipate the right things. The victory is ours in Christ Jesus, not for personal prosperity or political victory but over the powers of Sin and Death. In the end, Christ will be victorious. He has already won the victory!

This isn’t the only time we see Palm Branches exalting Christ. In Revelation it says, “...there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9)

While evil may seem to be winning at times, it will be defeated in the end. Our hope is this: Christ will be exalted as the Son of God with all power and authority, and the whole world will see that He is who He says He is.

(Excerpt from our Holy Week Debltional: Journey with Jesus!)

Order the printable 45 page PDF download on our online shop as we follow Christs footsteps to the cross each day of Holy Week!

Available now! Our Holy Week digital download will take you on an eight day journey with Jesus as we follow His footsteps to the cross!

45 page printable download! https://acrossmyheartministries.com/product/holy-week-journey-with-jesus/?fbclid=IwAR2HMHQhZ-bTT-PwuHG_1GUfm86ePEGDSr7WJXEiaEb99b-Z0Mk-kw6kW_s_aem_AU7aCBNAym7HZe_sgjQcYNIt4c1mY9ACCykKcUidmayl_5iD0Cmc3BS5Q1kvCfel47c

God brought us to Minnesota to teach women about His love, but turns out I was the one who learned the most. 💕

Continue reading if you have time for a story 👇👇

The entire time I was planning this conference just outside Rochester, I had NO idea it was the same city as the Mayo Clinic. When we arrived, we passed a bajillion signs on the expressway. I verbally acknowledged that it’s a state-of-the-art research hospital, but even then it didn’t hit me.

It wasn’t until we were at Emmarie’s local church the next morning that it dawned on me - the Mayo Clinic is not just any research hospital, it is THE research hospital that discovered what was wrong with our daughter Phoebe.

At only 5 days old, her cerebral spinal fluid had been sent to their labs. And they were the ones to diagnose her with the rare viral infection - parechovirus encephalitis. It was their research that helped save her life! 💕

As I was standing in the church lobby, in the middle of a conversation with this kind older gentleman, it all came to me at once. The warmth of God’s full circle embrace enveloped me and tears of joy began to stream down my face. I was a mess, sobbing to this man I had barely just met, telling him the whole story. I couldn’t hold it back.

This man had just mentioned in casual conversation how weekly shipments of lab samples arrive in UPS trucks for research. And his words struck a chord. One of those trucks had driven the same roads we had from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Rochester, Minnesota, carrying my little girl’s CSF over a year ago.

Here I was spending the whole weekend trying to convince other women how much God loves His children… and His love for my very own child is what spoke to me.

If you have any doubt, I’m here to tell you that He is there in the suffering. He is there in details. He is there in the joy. He truly LOVES us!

I can stand up on stage and talk for hours. I can teach about Him all day long, but He never ceases to amaze me. I thought I understood. I thought I knew. But there is always more to love… more to learn. I will never fully comprehend the fullness of our God!! 🙌🙌

“We were created to love and be loved because we were created in the image of God who is Love” ~ Ashley Giovannucci

What an incredible conference!! We met so many amazing women, and we left with a greater awe of God’s good design for love, s*x, and relationships!

Thank you to everyone who prayed us through!! God created us for community and we felt the love and support of this community the entire time. We truly were created to love God and love others. 💕