Broken Marriages, Faithful God

I was raised in a very traditional Catholic household. I recall at a young age not agreeing with everything I was being taught by the church, but questioning things was never encouraged. So even though I knew Jesus, there was this great disconnect in my life.

I moved away to college and found myself distancing further from the church. I met a young man and within a short time we were engaged and married very young...because that’s what you do, right? Not having God as the center of our marriage things quickly fell apart and I was now single with two kids. I eventually remarried but this time I recognized if we were going to have a long marriage we needed God so I again began attending mass and became very involved with my church.

Fast forward 7 years and I was staring down the barrel of my second divorce after discovering my husband was meeting other men on the internet. I was not prepared for this and, of course, did the only thing I knew how to do...got angry at God for “giving” me a husband who was unfaithful. I distinctly remember walking outside the day I found out and I threw my hands in the air, glanced up and said, “Seriously? This is what you send me?”.

Shortly thereafter I started a new job and the owners were Christians who continually talked with me about a god who loved me and wanted to know me. I couldn’t believe it. I attended church with them and immediately felt out of place. This was not what I had been taught church looked like! So I found a catholic church in Marshfield and attended mass regularly, yet my new bosses did not give up on me.

They gifted me with a Bible and a devotional that I began to read and one of the first verses I came across was John 16:33; “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” It connected in my heart that I was not meant to bear all these things alone and that Jesus was there to walk through these trials with me. I realized God never sent these bad things to me but rather I was trying to control every aspect of my life. I was so overcome that I found a church to explore this new sense of peace I had.

For the first time in my life I didn’t feel ashamed of who I was and what lived in my past.

During these last three year of my new walk with the Lord I have dealt with some significant struggles. But because of who Jesus is, and what He did for me on the cross, I am able to surrender control of those things to Him. Now I continue to watch His hand of blessing cover my life. He has blessed my life abundantly and I am forever changed.

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Submitted Anonymously on 11/21/2021