Editor’s note: This article was adapted from the story of a woman who attended one of FamilyLife’s I Still Do events between 1999-2002. As we prepare to hold three new I Still Do events this summer and fall, we thought you’d be encouraged by this testimony of how God transformed a dying marriage.
My husband and I were going through a divorce when we heard about I Still Do. We had been married for many years. We had great memories during those years but, sadly, we also had accumulated many serious problems. I felt a void where a full heart once was.
After decades of marriage, I left my husband. The months apart brought tears and heartache for us both. We both sought out the comfort of other relationships, and this increased the gap between us.
With God’s help, we finally realized that we still wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We didn’t want a divorce from each other, only from the many seemingly irresolvable problems we had accumulated. We had both made many mistakes. What we needed was a fresh start. That’s when we decided to go to I Still Do.
Neither my husband nor I had ever been to a marriage conference when we went to that event. I guess my husband knew that there would be a chance to renew our vows if we wanted to; he brought our wedding rings with him. We hadn’t worn our rings for several years.
At I Still Do we learned for the first time about healthy relationships with God at the helm. We renewed our marriage covenant with full hearts and tears of joy. We put our wedding rings back on, and I moved back home for good that night.
Now we are committed to spending the rest of our lives together and are changing the dysfunctional patterns we developed in the past. We are seeing a wonderful Christian counselor who has helped us construct a new and healthy relationship together.
We have our work cut out for us, and it’s not always easy. But I can tell you, I look at my husband with a different pair of eyes now. I see a strong, brave man I respect who is not a quitter and who loves and cares enough about me and us to work so hard by my side.
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