Things Hoped For

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

For Mark and Jenny Luelf, this passage of Scripture represents a way of life. To put it simply, the Luelfs are people of faith. They have learned how important it is to take God at His Word, to grab hold of His promises, and to make those promises their own. This isn't necessarily knowledge they acquired easily, but they now understand for themselves that simply hearing the Word of God preached is not enough. In order for the Word to produce results, it must be acted upon.

The Luelfs met in the late 1980s while traveling with a contemporary Christian band out of Orlando, Florida. Shortly after their time touring on the road, the couple got married and proceeded to move to Tulsa so that Mark could finish his degree at Oral Roberts University. When Mark graduated, the couple decided to stay here in Tulsa. Jenny says it wasn't long after they had settled into their new home that the "maternal instincts" started kicking in. The plan was to wait five years before trying to have any children, but after being married for only three years, they were ready to start their family.

A few months passed, and the couple began to get their hopes up that Jenny might be pregnant. As time went by though, Jenny began to experience some minor complications, and several trips to the doctor's office revealed a possible tubal pregnancy. During this time, Jenny started to feel very ill and decided to make another trip to the doctor’s office. This time the doctor informed her that she needed to have emergency surgery right then. Jenny called Mark at work, and he immediately rushed to the hospital to be with his wife. That night, the Luelfs lost their baby.

After the miscarriage, Jenny’s doctor wanted to have numerous tests done on her; however, Jenny felt like she should wait on these tests and take some time to build her faith. One way she did that was by reading as much as she could on the topic of believing God for children. To her surprise, this was much easier said than done. Jenny was only able to find one book at the time that would really encourage her faith, but she didn't let that stop her. She read the book over and over again and continued to stand on the Word.

Right around the same time, the couple started attending Church on the Move, and they began learning even more about standing on the promises of God. It wasn't long before Jenny became pregnant again; however, their hopes were quickly dashed as she miscarried right before Mother’s Day that year. At that moment, Jenny felt like she couldn't go on any longer, but God's grace was there to sustain the couple.

In spite of the trauma of losing a second child, the Luelfs continued to rely on God and trust Him with their hope for a child. They faithfully attended Church on the Move and began taking steps of faith for their baby. Jenny started writing a book about believing God for children even though she wasn’t pregnant. She started studying all the women in the Bible who had received the children that they had asked God for. The couple decorated the baby’s room in their home, using a Noah’s Ark theme to remind them that God keeps His promises. They even sponsored a little boy from Tanzania and used this as seed for the child they were standing in faith for. Jenny threw baby showers for her friends, and every time she saw a picture of a cute little baby, she would thank God for His promises working on her behalf.

As time passed on, the doctors determined that Jenny had endometriosis and informed her that they could correct this with outpatient surgery. Jenny had the procedure done, and the doctors instructed her to go on fertility drugs; however, after talking it over with Mark, the couple decided that they did not want to take that route. Instead, Jenny felt like she needed to quit her stressful job, which consequently allowed her to stay at home and continue writing her book. Two weeks after she resigned, she became pregnant again, and this time she had a complete peace that everything was going to be fine. In her words, “I knew that I knew that I knew that I was going to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.”

The Luelfs know firsthand the power of standing on God’s promises, and they now have a beautiful, healthy six-year-old girl named Riley as a result. Jenny was even able to finish her book, A Quiver Full, in which she documents in great detail the miracle of childbirth that God performed for her and her husband. Mark and Jenny Luelf are truly thankful for the wonderful teaching of God’s Word that they have received since they have been here at Church on the Move, and their story is one that can inspire us all. At first, having a child of their own was just a thing hoped for, but faith gave them the means to see that hope become a reality!