Today we’d like to introduce you to Pastors Dorale & Debby Sims.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Knitted Hearts Marriage Ministry was founded in 2012. It came out of a passion to help couples build strong and healthy relationships, based on God’s blueprint for marriage. Not long after we were married, God spoke to me that my husband and I would counsel couples together as a team. At that time, my husband was not convinced, nor was he interested. I began searching for places to become certified as a Biblical Counselor and received my first certification in 2009, after which I began counseling solo. We moved to Austin in 2011 and served in a ministry where we began counseling as a team.
Since then, we have received two more certifications, and I recently completed my Master of Arts Pastoral Counseling, Marriage and Family from Liberty University. We are continually seeking to further develop our counseling skills through education and various certifications. We have counseled numerous couples all over the United States, as well as someone who was working in Afghanistan at the time. Technology has removed the limitations concerning the people we’re able to reach with our ministry and counseling.
We enjoy helping couples and seeing them grow and build stable, godly families utilizing the tools we supply them with. We counsel singles desiring to get married, couples looking to strengthen their relationship as well as couples in crisis, with great results. In addition, we coach and mentor couples and individuals, and officiate weddings. We attribute our success to teaching couples the fundamentals of allowing Holy Spirit to be the head of their marriage, praying together, setting boundaries, and communicating well. “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been an easy path! Some of the struggles have been the testing of our own marriage. When you begin to walk in your ministerial calling, you are going to be tested. From the beginning, we determined we would live what we preach, so there were times Holy Spirit would have us say something to a couple or during one of our Facebook Live videos that would minister to us as well. Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, meaning, it cuts both ways, and it would convict us, causing us to work make the necessary changes within ourselves concerning whatever it was God had spoken through us.
Learning to work together cohesively, and actually practice what we preached at times was difficult, but it made us stronger and more devoted to walk it out. Another difficulty which applied mostly to me was setting boundaries with our counselees. I had to learn to disconnect myself outside of counseling sessions so I would not carry their burden. My husband would tell me not to allow people to call me on my off time, which often occurred during our family time.
Knitted Hearts Marriage Ministry – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our business is counseling. While we do counsel individuals, we specialize in relationship counseling. We are most proud of how God is using us to change lives. I believe counseling is a gift. Not everyone is gifted, skilled or even has the desire to counsel. To be able to teach a person to trust God in the midst of their storm, and to facilitate change in someone who has lost all hope is probably one of the most fulfilling things in my life. We don’t consider anyone to be competition. People need help all over the world, and we can’t do it all. We do our best and look to Holy Spirit to lead us in how to counsel. In addition, we are very transparent. We don’t take people at face value. Oftentimes, God will show us things about our counselees that go deeper than what they have presented to us. Both my husband and I came out of broken marriages and we each have our own testimony that we may share at times throughout our sessions as we feel led. In addition, there is a lot of humor and fun invoked in our sessions. Most couples are a bit sad to end counseling when their time with us is completed.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There have been a few, but if I had to choose one, it would be when we counseled a particular couple who came to us a couple of years ago, in a state of crisis. The wife had basically given up, and counseling was her last effort in saving their marriage. We counseled them, prayed with them, gave them specific tools and homework, and required that they pray together daily. When their marriage turned around, we didn’t have to ask, it was written all over their faces! Although we have seen that with several other couples, there was something about the pain and desperation this wife came to us with, and to see the breakthrough is something I will never forget. We remain in contact with them, but now it is more of a mentoring relationship so they can update us and ask any questions they may have in order to remain on track.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.knittedhearts.org
- Phone: 512.909.8691
- Email: knittedhearts.mm@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knittedhearts_marriageministry/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knittedhearts/
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