Prior to Restore I was quiet and reserved; I preferred to keep to myself and was extremely introverted. I also struggled to get into the Word. I spent a lot of time in my nothing box (where I thought about nothing at all). I did not show emotion and would push down any emotion that would try to come out. I was taught to believe that men do not show emotion.

When I wrote my story as part of the Restore journey, I wrote it easily with no feelings coming out. Once completed, God had spoken to me that day and told me that I was going to read it first. Once I started reading my story, that is when my emotion was broken. I could not hide it or hold it in. God was working on me and showing me that he is with me and would never leave me.

Before I began Restore, I felt as though I didn’t matter. I had spent my life feeling as though I was worthless, and it affected every part of my being.

I didn’t think I was attractive. I had been overweight. When good things were coming my way, I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. This feeling came from how my parents and my ex-wife consistently treated me. I didn’t feel as though they ever listened to me or valued who I was. I felt like they only heard what I said when it was relayed to them by a third party. It wasn’t just that they didn’t listen to me though, it was also that they consistently showed me I didn’t matter

t my story and situation hasn't changed since Restore started, but I felt like God grabbed my little noggin and said "No, no. Look at it from here."

Prior to Restore, I had sin in my life’s story that I wanted to hide or wished could be erased, because it felt so distant from the person I am today. I felt fully at the mercy of my mind; compulsively running scenarios in my mind that kept me distracted on a regular basis, followed immediately by shame for not being able to focus or feeling like I couldn't control them. I constantly wondered "what ifs" until my brain would run out of alternate endings. Fantasy is a key theme of my story…

Before Restore, I walked covered in shame, anxiety, and depression. I thought that was just how I was. There was no hope or redemption for me. It was just part of me.

God felt so distant and I was mad at Him. I was even mad that I had to do Restore. I thought, “Why bother? Nothing is going to change who or how I am.”

But through Restore, God changed my view on so much.

The first one and the biggest one is my view on community. Wow, did the Lord redeem my view on a small group setting with a bunch of women!

The fall impacted how I saw and understood my life and relationships in a pessimistic way. Because I’ve experienced very heavy, intense, and difficult circumstances related to trauma, grief, and a family member’s repeated suicide attempts, this led me to have a dark outlook and perspective in life. The depression and anxiety at one point was so severe that I felt the pain was unbearable and I didn’t know if I wanted to live.

Because of my circumstances, I did not necessarily doubt that God existed—but I came to believe that though God was real, He did not hear my prayers and therefore, he did not care about me. He was distant.

I had fooled myself into believing that the castle of my heart was warm and welcoming to God, my spouse, and my chosen few. That was a fantasy I wanted myself and others to believe. In reality, I knew I had become the queen of my heavily-fortressed castle in order to protect myself from the recurring themes of mistrust, rejection, being unheard, and being controlled by men.

I had learned to appear to live relationally with my spouse, friends, and even with God, enough that few would question the authenticity. And while it was real, I knew I was holding back my most intimate self in order to protect the deepest recesses of my untrusting broken heart—because I knew I would be rejected, lied to, and broken yet again if I let the wall down.

As a pastor, it gave me great joy to watch the people of MCC engage with the material and be equipped to abide in Christ. People experienced communion with God through his word and were given tools to keep abiding in Christ.

Months later, we are still talking about and utilizing the concepts from that conference. The people of our church still look back and remember the impact of the time we had together.

One of the greatest joys I’ve experienced in life and ministry is entering into other’s stories.

However, it’s also been one of the hardest things, learning how to know how to help others see and savor God in the midst of their struggles with sin and suffering. It can be difficult to help them instead see their own story in light of God’s big story.

I have found Restore to be an excellent, thoroughly biblical, and gospel-centered tool that has helped me personally see and savor God more by helping me see my own unique story through the lens of God’s story.

We as a church had gone through several cyclical seasons of deep hurt and loss over a number of years. We had hit an emotional and spiritual wall and it was evident that not dealing with this deep pain and hurt would only perpetuate and devolve future ministry.

Robert and Karen’s spirit filled wisdom and grace was exactly what our leadership needed…

Throughout the summer, staff continued to talk about the impact Restore had on them individually, but also collectively, as it made them more understanding of each other and ultimately a better team. I would highly recommend Restore as a means of coaching and caring for your staff.

I had been a “professional” Christian for a long time, serving in the church, and I wanted to relearn what it meant to simply be a Christian. I longed to find rest in my identity as a beloved child of God. Walking through the Restore material helped me to do just that. 

Restore is a rich, intentionally biblical way to engage marriages. It’s effective for every phase and stage of life and marriage, precisely because it is rooted in our stories, which are constantly unfolding, and God’s story, which is pertinent to any moment on our timeline. And it can be returned to again and again because our stories aren’t static.

I wanted to learn more about implementing gospel care in the local church, so I reached out to Sojourn Church Midtown. Even though I was from out of state, Robert and Karen Cheong availed themselves to me and a friend when we were attending a conference nearby Sojourn.

What happened that day with the Cheong’s was significant for us; not only did they share lots of information (which we came in search of), but they personally cared for us with the love of Christ (which we didn’t ask for, but needed).

Obviously, every pastor and every church has a desire to shepherd and care for their people well. All pastors want to live faithfully into that Biblical mandate, but what Robert helped us do was to bring a robust biblical and gospel-centered framework to our efforts.

During his consulting visit, we were able to develop a plan that was not only pragmatic, but more importantly, a plan that flowed right from Scripture.

When I first entered into the Restore experience, I was entering one of the most challenging seasons of my life.

My reality was one of ever-deepening depression and disillusionment driven by ministry trauma and the way in which my heart was responding to that trauma. My day-to-day relationships in the ministry I worked for at the time were characterized by betrayal, manipulation, and a passive hostility that seems to breed particularly in ministry contexts. I showed up to Restore with my emotions locked in the basement of my heart.

When we started, I struggled to connect with Scripture, to connect with other believers, and to see how God could be at work in my life. I battled fears of being transparent, the temptation to hide behind nice platitudes (“How are you?” “I’m fine.”); all the while, I was desperate for relief from the relational pain I was experiencing in ministry.

As a ministry leader, Restore has proven to be an invaluable tool for both discipling and caring for others.

I have found that there is oftentimes a disconnect between the truths we know about God and life’s struggles and pain. Trying circumstances can appear to loom larger than God. Sin and suffering can feel beyond the Redeemer’s touch.

Restore does not ignore our reality nor does it allow for endless introspection. Instead, it creates space to face our realities afresh and bring them before God, allowing Him to reframe how we view our own stories in light of His greater redemption story. Restore gives participants opportunities to experience the intimate healing and redeeming hand of God. 

As the Lead Pastor of Local Church, I wanted to equip our core team with a few resources as we prepared to plant. Restore was at the top of that list.

Restore positions a person to receive from the Lord by abiding in His Word together with others. Each week builds on the last, but the central exercise of each lesson is to simply listen to the voice of the Lord through His Word. As a person practices this and takes time to reflect in the group, the Lord brings a greater awareness of His love, forgiveness, restoration, and hope to the particular brokenness of one’s own story.

“I had the privilege of attending the Restore Weekend Retreat with some of our church leadership. What an amazing time of being together with others as we experienced Jesus as a family!

God had something very personal for me during this time, as I came away with two lasting gifts for my heart. First, I received a deep and lasting encouragement in the presence, promises, and power of God for both my life and the life of others. God has allowed me to hold onto these realities for myself and believe them for the good of others.

Participating in Restore enabled me to see the story of my life through new eyes.

The past was in the past, and I could not change it. However, re-examining the patterns of responding in my past which influenced my present, learning that many of the struggles of my heart were common to mankind, and understanding that I was created for communion with a God who has entered into the broken world in which I live, helped me to reframe my story in the light of God's redemptive story.

In Restore, I tasted the sweetness of…

Growing up I had a longing for things to be different, better, deeper.

As a girl, I would collect materials from around the house and use them to build additions onto my dollhouse. I thought, “With just a little will-power, creativity, and work, I can make this the DREAM house it was destined to be!” I would work to the best of my ability, only to be let down at the end, when my finished product never turned out the way that I had envisioned.

I was left discouraged and let down.