Happy summer everyone! We hope you are managing to get in some good outdoors time and are having fun. Here in Raleigh, the dog days of summer are finally here and it’s hot! Air conditioning is our best friend.
As we looked at the calendar, we figured it’s a good time to give you another update on our personal lives and the ministry of Love Inside Out.
First off, we know that there are many different reasons you may be on our email list. Some joined from the start because we already had relationships with you. Others joined along the way when you ‘bumped’ into us online. Still others of you have attended an event we have hosted at some point or another. However you found us, we are so grateful for you – for your love, support and encouragement.
Launching Love Inside Out was the beginning of the fulfilment of a dream God gave us to see the Body of Christ healed, whole, empowered and unified. Throughout our ministry lives, our hearts have been broken so many times as we have witnessed the body in various places and various ways divided and turned inward against itself. This was absolutely not Jesus’ plan for the church. But he seemed to be very aware we would struggle in this way. He prayed passionately in John 17 that his followers would be one just as he and the Father are one. Jesus’ deep heart desire is that his followers would all be one, living as a loving family and, in so being, reveal his and his Father’s lavish love to the world. Since this is God’s heart, we have absolute confidence that Jesus’ prayer will be answered! This is why we are truly excited about seeking God’s heart for how he intends to bring this purpose into reality. We are so thankful that you are along with us on the journey.
Here’s where things stand for us right now. God has shown his faithfulness to us in so many ways since we founded Love Inside Out. But it has been a challenging three years. We officially incorporated in April 2020, just as COVID hit. As you well know, everything was brought to a standstill during the following year and a half. While we felt truly blessed to be able to spend some wonderful and unexpected quality time with our children, COVID meant that we were not able to move forward with the projects we had on our hearts. Then, just as the COVID era was waning, we entered an intense season of sorrow and testing as we lost 4 parents in a matter of 9 months. While we have been greatly comforted by the joy of knowing that all four are now in the wonderful arms of Jesus, that difficult season forced us to put our ministry plans even further on hold. It’s been deeply frustrating, but we absolutely trust in God’s perfect timing in all things.
But there is good news. In 2023, we feel we have finally been able to begin to gain some forward momentum. While the Father has been quite clear that this is a ‘recovery’ year for us personally, he has led us to move ahead in a few areas. One of our dreams was to launch an Experience the Trinity Weekend, designed to lead people into personal encounter with God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In April we took our first step in this direction and hosted a one-day version of this event at the Catch the Fire Community Center in Durham, NC. It was a truly beautiful day. People personally encountered the lavish love of God and experienced significant breakthrough in their lives. We were awestruck by God’s goodness! As a result, we have received several invitations from churches to come host a full weekend event in 2024. If you would be interested in learning more or having us bring an Experience the Trinity Weekend to your church, you can contact us at info@loveinsideout.org.
We have also been able to focus more energy into our What if We Loved Podcast, expanding into more interviews with authors, pastors, and various specialists in the realm of emotional, spiritual, and physical healing. These episodes have been lots of fun to record, and they are great resources that you can draw upon for encouragement and healing (and fun!).
Also, now coming back into focus is one of our core visions, which is to launch a school that focuses on discipling the heart. We’ll have much more to say about this over the coming year.
In the meantime, we are thrilled that God has given us the opportunity to serve on the teaching team for the next Fatherheart Ministries’ Inheriting the Nations’ School (INS). This 10-week school will take place this September-December on the stunning Great Barrier Island in New Zealand. We attended INS back in 2017 and have always dreamed of returning to the Barrier. God has graciously opened the door for us to return, and we can’t wait. Because we’ll be away for nearly three months, we have been busy this summer recording lots of podcasts so that you’ll have plenty to listen to while we are away. We fully expect that we will return to Raleigh in December rested, refreshed, and energized and ready to jump into 2024.
There are other exciting things happening as well, including the coming wedding of our daughter, Abigail, in June of next year. We are filled with great anticipation of all God is planning to do. We are so grateful for you and can’t wait to continue to walk with you in the days, months, and years ahead. Your prayers are incredibly important to us and give us great joy and encouragement. We would also like to ask if you would consider financially partnering with us as we begin to develop our school and host more events. If you would even consider setting up a recurring donation, we’d be deeply thankful. You can donate online at www.loveinsideout.org/donate.
We love you all and pray you have a wonderful rest of your summer. May God fill you with his never ending, always healing, and deeply comforting love. You are truly loved by him.
Much love,
Bruce and Shay
