Treasure to Treasure

So the way I see life working is realizing it's all about relationships. Mark (my husband) and I have been blessed beyond belief with meeting amazing people of all ages, education levels, income levels, titles and denominations. We'd like to introduce you to some of those people. Through relationships our lives are made richer because we learn from each other. Today I'd like to introduce you to Arlin Sorensen. Arlin is a farmer and businessman in Southwest Iowa. He understands the importance of relationships and he lives that out through every part of his life. We haven't known Arlin long but we're encouraged and challenged by his passion to meld his life following Christ into every aspect of his life, including his business. The following is an excerpt of his morning devotion e-mail which he sends out to over 500 people every day. The point of sharing this (which we are doing with his permission) is not that we are mentioned - it's that he gets it. Discipleship - we are ALL to be discipled and to disciple. Well just read his words - they express our beliefs at Treasure Chest Ministries perfectly.

Happy hump day. What a busy day yesterday was. Started early and I had a phone or meeting happening from 8 AM until 8:30 PM. It was like a day on the road for me which was wild yet very productive. The meetings and conference calls were extremely productive and it was a great day. The best part was later in the afternoon when some folks gathered in our living room with the western Iowa couple that leads Marriage Matters. You may recall we attempted to have a meeting with them back in January during the ice storms, and we did, but the amount of distractions that day really caused us to struggle to focus and get a plan in place. Yesterday we were able to walk through all the resources they offer, and talk about how we can create a mentoring program that allows couples to come alongside another couple who is struggling to help them learn how to work through issues. It is an exciting program and we will be working to bring it to the area with an early summer kick off. Marriage Matters doesn’t use any fancy methods or some big training program to prepare people. They equip folks with some simple tools and honestly just follow the model Jesus used in scripture – go and make disciples. Too often programs complicate His simple approach to ministry. Discipleship is coming alongside someone who is at least one step behind you in their walk - be it in their relationship with Christ, their marriage, their business or wherever they are – and sharing life together through practical example of how you took the next step when you were in their shoes. Way too many of us don’t think we know enough to help anyone else. Our life is not perfect, our marriage has problems of our own, our business has issues that we have to address every day. OK – welcome to being alive. Don’t want any problems – the only way I know to achieve that is to stop breathing permanently. And that is only an assumption because I haven’t been there yet. And that really is the core of mentoring, or discipling another. We share from our experience rather than letting people just hope and guess they are on the right track. Often sharing the things that we have struggled with, or even failed at, can be the greatest life lessons we have to share. Jesus didn’t pick 12 perfect guys to be his disciples. In fact, they were anything but perfect, and one left Him to betray Him. Jesus took 12 and poured His life into them. And the result? They changed the world…..forever…..that is the power of discipling another. It is the greatest form of legacy you can ever find. And we need to do it at home, in the office, and at church. Programs like Marriage Matters just help equip us to be obedient to God’s commandment to “Go and Make Disciples of ALL Nations” and that starts right at home. (emphasis added)
Arlin Sorensen
CEO/Partner Heartland Technology Solutions
A Day in the Life of Arlin Sorensen Thoughts from the Farm Morning Email