I’ve never heard of princess dreams that consist of the knight in shining armor chasing after another. Perhaps they exist, Only in the form of nightmares.
I grew up in a Christian home, graduated from Christian school, and completed the circle by graduating from Christian college and teaching in a Christian school. Surely with so much Bible knowledge, surely with such great parental examples, the odds of divorce would be the lowest possible.
But years after marrying my knight in shining armor, I discovered that he loved another and had been involved with her for approximately 4 of the 5 years we were married. After battling what to do, instead of finding ourselves joyfully serving God, we found ourselves divorced.
As a naïve girl with a protected homelife, I never dreamed in a million years that I would wind up divorced.
I don’t think anyone ever dreams of it, truthfully. But it happens, even to good, very good, almost perfect relationships. Without the grace of God guarding us, we can easily be robbed of our dreams by Satan.
Before I trudged through the dark valley of divorce, my judgment of other divorcees was extremely harsh. But I’m telling you now that while I know from Scripture that divorce is not God’s best plan, it does happen. Even to good, well-meaning Christians.
Can I just tell you how gracious God is?
The God of the Bible is HUGE on second chances. In fact, the entire history of mankind is based on a second chance given to the top of the human chain, Adam and Eve.
My second chance came in the form of a tall, dark and handsome man; God generously gave me my husband, Matt. With a similar background as mine, his strong Christian heritage and his return to the Lord after some prodigal years was the perfect combination for God to join us together at just the right time.
Twelve years later, I look back with awe at everything God has brought forth from our lives merged as one. The roles of being stepparents, special needs parents, and parents to 5 children together, making our total number of children 7, is pure testimony to God’s grace and redeeming power.
64% of second marriages end in divorce! Isn’t that number astronomical? But our family often receives compliments on what a beautiful family we are – an awesome display of God’s redemption.
To encourage you today, I would just like to give you four points my husband and I have learned about redeeming love in marriage:
We wrote these together. 🙂
1. God is the ultimate Redeemer.
2. Marriage works best when you are striving to meet your spouse’s needs.
3. You will not have regrets if you view your time together as a priority.
4. “As Christ has forgiven you, forgive each other” – Colossians 3:13
No matter the past, no matter the mistakes you’ve either made or endured by others, God wants to bless your marriage. Give it to Him and experience God’s Redeeming Love In Your Marriage.
