Faithfulness Before Fruit

Trusting God With the Seeds We Plant

This past weekend, Bill and I had the opportunity to do a book signing at the John 3:16 Bookstore. And honestly? We were so excited just to be there. A couple days before the signing, we were also invited to share our story and ministry on the John 3:16 podcast. Sitting together and talking about marriage, faith, healing, and the heart behind Pamper Your Marriage reminded me why we wrote this book in the first place. Not to become famous. Not to sell a certain number of copies. But to help marriages.

If I’m being transparent, we didn’t sell any books at the signing.

And yes, there’s always that small human part of you that hopes people will stop, connect, buy the book, and get excited about the message. Because I truly believe Pamper Your Marriage could help so many marriages if people would just read it.

But God spoke something different to my heart:

Sometimes we measure success by immediate results.

God measures it by faithfulness.

We may not have sold books that day, but we planted seeds.

We:

• shared our testimony

• represented God-honoring marriage

• spoke life into conversations

• and left five books in the bookstore for future readers

And maybe that’s exactly what this season is about. Not instant fruit. But faithful planting.

One of the pillars in Pamper Your Marriage is Action.

Action means:

• showing up

• stepping out

• being obedient even when outcomes are uncertain

It would have been easy to become discouraged. But instead, I’m learning that sometimes love, ministry, and calling simply require you to keep showing up faithfully.

The Lord pampers His Church by continually pursuing her.

He keeps:

• knocking

• speaking

• sowing truth

• extending grace

Even when not everyone responds immediately. And aren’t we thankful He didn’t stop reaching for us?

The podcast was part of the purpose too. One of my favorite parts of this experience was sitting beside Bill during the podcast interview. Hearing us share together reminded me how far we’ve come. Marriage is not built in one moment. It is built through prayer, patience, perseverance, and daily intentional love. And whether one person heard the message or one hundred, it mattered.

Maybe this applies to more than books.

Maybe you’ve been:

• praying for your spouse

• trying to rebuild connection

• showing kindness

• sowing love

…without seeing immediate results.

Don’t stop planting good seeds.

Faithfulness matters even when fruit takes time.

We left that bookstore without sold-out tables…

But not without purpose.

Because obedience is never wasted.

And maybe one of those five books sitting on the shelf will eventually find its way into the exact hands that need it most.

Your marriage doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be pampered.

📖 Pamper Your Marriage is available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon, and our website🌐Learn more at www.PamperYourMarriage.org