The following was taken from a post on the 1 Peter 3 Living Group. It's testimony from Pam Anderson. My friends, you will see Grace differently in this. Thanks Pam, Lynn & Dineen and your SUM family.

Hello Everyone, 

God has been doing an amazing work in my home, my husband and my marriage.  Let me begin by saying that the word God gave me for both 2014 & 2015 is GRACE!  I expected a new word for 2015, but that didn’t happen.  Little did I realize what AMAZING things he had planned!  Yes, AMAZING GRACE. 

To make a very long story as short as possible, since October of 2014, Grace has become a staple word in our home.  Even for my husband!  I can’t begin to tell you what a Divine move this.  My husband, Bob, is a very hard, military man (served 32 years).  He was trained to be this way; however, he has a soft heart that he rarely exposes.  That would mean he’d have to be vulnerable, and, well, we know how that is. 

We started having conversations about Grace, what it means, how it transforms.  He’s an author of action-adventure men-type books, and he even has a chapter talking about Grace.  Oh, this only made possible by HIS AMAZING GRACE… 

Then I got Max Lucado’s book, “GRACE” for Christmas.  With the help of this book, God took me to a whole new level. Grace started happening to me in a way I cannot explain (I have chills just thinking about it).  I couldn’t have ever imagined this with my limited human mind and thinking.  It completely changed how I saw my husband. I began giving Grace is a new, fresh and generous way. 

Then in January, a death occurred with one of my husband’s long, lost friends. His friend’s wife.  My husband and he had not spoken for over 20 years.  All this time, my husband harbored anger, guilt and resentment about this, because they had been very close friends.  Jim, his friend, was a very hard man as well.  So when we got the news of Jim’s wife passing away, an amazing feeling came over me.  I knew that God was going to use this to open a door to mend this relationship somehow, and bring forgiveness and Grace where there was guilt, anger, resentment.  I didn’t know how.  My husband decided he wanted to go to the funeral. This was a very hard step for him, as he didn’t know what he was getting into.  And what happened was AMAZING GRACE! 

Jim, the friend, was a totally transformed man. Yes, he had been saved, and Grace overtook him!  The way this impacted my husband, well, there are no words to describe.  He couldn’t believe it.  My husband, prior, had always thought of Christians as weak, but what he saw was Grace.  Something powerful and life changing.  He saw a man who he NEVER, EVER, would have believed would become a Christian, and had.  SUMites, this is the ONLY person in my husband’s life that could affect him this way.  It is so amazing how God works!  

When my husband returned, he was dumfounded and started calling a few of his male friends to tell them about it.  Each one talked about Grace in one way or another; maybe not the exact words, but they described GRACE!  Then I handed the GRACE book (Max Lucado’s book) to my husband and said, “If you want to know what happened to Jim, read this.”  And he has been!  

I can’t believe the change happening in my husband before my very eyes.  GRACE IS HAPPENING!  And Lynn, in regard to your post about praying for your husband differently, that’s what I began doing. I started claiming, believing and thanking God for what I’ve asked Him to do for my husband- as though all my prayers have been answered.  “Thank you Lord that your Grace is transforming my husband before my eyes. Thank you that Your GRACE is turning him upside down and evading his space, and he can’t stop it!  Thank you that GRACE is penetrating his very being—his communications, his actions, his thoughts, his emotions…  Thank you that Your Grace, through the Holy Spirit, is shaking him at his core and softening his heart to You, Lord. Thank you that Your will is being done, here in my home, my marriage, my life and my husband’s life, just as it is in Heaven!  Thank you Father that You are working all things for our good and Your glory!”  And this is what began happening. 

I became so overtaken and impacted by this fresh, new experience of Grace on my life, and seeing how me giving Grace and living Grace, before my husband was making such a difference in our home. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss an opportunity to experience it. So I had a friend of mine who makes bracelets make me a GRACE bracelet (see attached).  It reminds me constantly throughout the day to give GRACE, often, generously and at every opportunity.  Just like Jesus did and DOES for me, daily!  I’m realizing that the degree to which I GIVE GRACE is the degree to which I RECEIVE GRACE.  I can’t explain how powerful and life changing this concept has become in my life. 

Then, on Valentine’s Day, the most amazing thing happened.  My husband and I were going to have a special, relaxed dinner at home.  We were on no timeframe.  And then GRACE appeared!  We had the most amazing conversation about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the transforming power of GRACE.  I gave my testimony, cried.  He heard it, a few tears came to his eyes.  I shared just the appropriate amount, just what God laid on my heart to say. Then, I just let GRACE happen.  I let God chase my husband down with GRACE! 

In conclusion, I need to share this.  Three years ago I took a major leap of faith.  I quit a prestigious job making a six-figure income.  I knew this was what God was telling me to do, to support my husband in his writing and his efforts.  And he gave me an assurance that what I would go through, he would use as a ministry, somehow.   If I had known what I’d face over the next three years, I would never have quit my job. I’m thankful God only shows us in small increments what he wants us to do, because in my limited human thinking, I would never have been able to do it.  Our financial situation got so dire, to a place I never envisioned I’d be.  But that’s where Grace met me, in my humbleness, in my desperation for God.  That is where I had to get.  Previously I thought I trusted God but I didn’t, I trusted my job—me. 

There’s more, but this is all I’m supposed to share for now (thank you for Grace in regard to this long email). I’m not sure where this is taking me, but God is giving me a little more clarity of His plans for me.  It’s very humbling. My friends, it’s  nothing short of AMAZING GRACE! 

In His Grace,
Pam

I recommitted my life to Christ in 2006 while my husband was serving in Iraq; 11 years into our marriage.  In April, my husband and I will be married 20 years.  This would not be possible without God’s life-changing Grace.  Grace that had to show up in me.  God has laid it on my heart that my most important mission on this earth, is to show Jesus to my husband; and I’m never more like Jesus than when I show my husband Grace and Mercy.  It’s been a very humbling and transforming process.  I celebrate the promise that my husband is sanctified through me.  I thank God it’s done!  I’m just waiting for God’s perfect timing to bring it to completion for all to see!  Glory and honor be to God!

I worked in the healthcare industry for 25 years and quit an executive position to support my husband in his writing career.  A step of faith that has taken me, and my marriage, in directions I could never have imagined or dreamed of.  This year I will be writing my first book.  A book which my husband fully supports and encourages, about how a woman’s heart is completely transformed when God’s Grace rules. How every relationship is impacted, forever changed, when Grace is applied to that relationship.  I ask for your prayers as I begin this project, that this book will be completely, and only, about bringing glory and honor to my Lord Jesus Christ.