Mike and Marilyn share how they found a personal relationship with Christ.
Mike invests in man to man relationships. Why? Because this has been God’s purpose for Mike his first days of teaching. Mike was a math teacher, so you can see why God thought it was only natural to give him equations for his life.
1 Man X 1 Mike = 2 men better equipped to master earth’s problems through Christ.
THEN
2 Godly men X 2 other Godly men = 4 Godly men better equipped for this world’s issues until they all get to their permanent home in heaven, and so forth. This equation increases and produces courageous men. In fact, one of Mike’s favorite Navigator books that he uses quite often is, “Every Man is a Warrior”.
All of this started because of Mike’s God-given purpose through his love for math and his Sunday School teacher’s wise words about another important strategic investment, a wife. His teacher said that if you want to have a good marriage, you need to “Focus on the husband-wife relationship rather than being focused on the kids.” This is one of the reasons why Mike and Marilyn have had a strong and long marriage. Mike invested intentional effort in modeling those nuggets of wisdom he learned from his teacher toward his wife and then eventually used those same truths, alongside other truths from the Bible, to teach young married couples for 30 years.
Marilyn has always loved people. I met a young, adult lady in our church awhile back, who knew Marilyn as a young child. Marilyn was her teacher in school. She said she loved Marilyn for her humor and the love she displayed toward her as a child. I loved hearing their stories regarding each other’s experiences with each other, and even today they have an endearing friendship. This is the type of person Marilyn is.
Marilyn has poured humor and love into the lives of others, because of her discovered faith in Christ. It comes natural to her. It’s her God-given purpose. It is the way that God individually created her, like it states in Psalms 139 about how each of us are uniquely created by God. For over 30 years she has used those skills and gifts to befriend, disciple, and meet the needs of young women and mothers and to also co- lead the Young Couples Group with her husband in her church. Now that she is a retired teacher, she has joined her husband with another adventurous ministry with the Navigators, which is headquartered in Colorado Springs.