Wynter Pitts - Emptied: Experiencing the Fullness of a Poured-Out Marriage

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE , OREGON

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Emptied

Copyright 2019 Wynter Pitts and Jonathan Pitts

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-7041-9 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-7042-6 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Pitts, Wynter, author.

Title: Emptied / Wynter and Jonathan Pitts.

Description: Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018030164 (print) | LCCN 2018035747 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736970426 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736970419 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: MarriageReligious aspectsChristianity.

Classification: LCC BV835 (ebook) | LCC BV835 .P58 2018 (print) | DDC 248.8/44dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030164

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Contents

This book is dedicated to the ones that showed us the way.

To Viola Carter, whose strength, faith, and endurance were met with Gods goodness. And to Garry and Miriam Pitts for their selfless and intentional love, fought for with sacrifice and deference. We are grateful that you poured out your lives in plain sight. You are imperfect, yet perfect, examples of the Lord Jesus Himself in our eyes.

A few months back, Rebekah and I were wrapping up lunch together in a crowded restaurant. As we were signing the check and adding gratuity, we overheard a man at a nearby table make the kind of hyperbolic statement to his friends that would stop any married couple in their tracks.

My wife and I just celebrated 42 years of marriage, and weve never once raised our voice with one another .

Seriously?

He went on to add, Of course, weve had a few disagreements over the years. But we always work through them rather easily. Our mouths dropped open. We didnt know that was a thing.

This random couplestrangers to usunknowingly were recasting our imagination for a healthy marriage only half as far along. Our 21-year journey together is an incredible testimony to what God can do through selflessness and commitment, even when our voices have hit full crescendos.

If we had been thinking through it, we would have cancelled our planned meetings, pulled up our chairs, and asked them dozens of questions; prodding them all afternoon for every little bit of advice, nugget of truth, and lasting encouragement that could help us say the same of our next 21 years. What a missed opportunity.

Even though that moment slipped by for us, your moment doesnt have to.

In the pages ahead, Wynter and Jonathan invite us to a seat at their table. By revealing personal stories and courageously exposing their early failings and misguided expectations, they graciously welcome us into their storya journey of learning, healing, and loving one another Gods way. Their bold, honest, and transparent thoughts will encourage your heart. What we would have given for mentors like this during our earliest years of marriage!

Whether you find yourself in a good marriage or a strained marriage or are contemplating marriage, this book is meant for you. Through Jonathan and Wynters fun, winsome, and vulnerable words, you will learn that marriage is an all-out commitmentdemanding the sincere effort of both partners with an invitation for Gods supernatural intervention during all seasons.

What we are most thankful for is their courage to let us in on the good, the bad, and the ugly. With a united voice they encourage us all to keep moving forward, renew our marriages in the truths of Scripture, and never let it be an option to walk away.

Now pull up your chair and engage in a conversation that will have lasting significance.

Gabe and Rebekah Lyons

Authors and Founders of Q

A Special Note from Jonathan

At 3:45 p.m. on July 24, 2018, I hit send on an e-mail to our publisher with the final, edited manuscript of this book attached. Around 7:30 p.m. on that same July day, Wynter breathed her last breath as I desperately tried to save it.

It never crossed my mind how God would use the sending of that e-mail to encourage my heart on the most difficult day I have ever facedand in the weeks and months to follow.

It was a proud moment and a relief for sure. Wynter and I had been laboring through the writing process for several months, doing our best to capture our story in a way that would speak to engaged couples, young marrieds, and anyone looking for a new outlook on marriage. We had a sense of accomplishment and truly believed that God was going to work through our story to reach others who might identify with our journey.

It was a neat experience for us to write the book because in a lot of ways we felt we were stepping into a new season of marriage. As husband and wife, we had grown together. We were both committed to a type of marriage that would focus on the other person. Though we came to our marriage with different backgrounds and expectations, we daily practiced the discipline of a godly marriage. We practiced because we never felt like professionals. What we lacked in profession, we made up with intention. Along the way, we realized we were picking up younger couples whom God would allow us to pour our lives into. Our intentions were shifting theirs.