5 Years

On Saturday, June 7th, Eric and I celebrated* our 5th anniversary. For our anniversary, we were up at the encounter. Eric and I were 2 of 8 leaders leading the encounter. Our very first without the pastors leading. The encounter was awesome!

At church on Sunday Pastor had all of us leaders come up to the front to share. Eric shared about our anniversary and why it was so significant. 5 years ago we had gotten married. It was a gorgeous day. The week before had been one 100 degrees, but that day is was only in the 80s. The presence of God was there at our wedding and we had high expectations for marriage. We were madly in love and that's all that really matters, right?

Well, not so much. "All we need is love?" No! We had love, but unfortunately, 7 months later we were separated. We had gone to 4 different (Christian) counselors. Spent A LOT of money, that we surely didn't have. Worked on communication. Talked to our pastor. And, all they could tell us is....they thought we should get separated. And, not just separate, but separate for 7 months. Since that's how long we had been married that's how long it would take to fix, if things even were fixable.

A few weeks after we got separated Eric felt like we needed to start going to Zion. I did NOT want to do that, because I was happy at the church we were already going to. I loved everyone, especially the pastor. But, the woman that I was living with, advised me to come under submission to my husband and go. Praise God for Bev!

One of the first Sundays we went to Zion the Pastor shared that him and his wife had been separated and God restored their marriage. After the service Eric and I went up to him and I just burst into tears. He told us that we should move back into together and he started meeting with us. We both, also, went to an encounter.

A lot of the problems in our marriage stemmed from the rejection that was in my heart. I had a wound of rejection and perceived (and received) rejection. Every time I felt rejected by Eric I would get angry, which would cause him to reject me even more, and this cycle continued. At the encounter I met God face to face and was completely healed. I met God as my father who loved me and accepted me and protects my heart. After coming home our marriage was completely restored. Things have never gone back to the way they were, four and a half years later. Restoration means to bring things into order. Our marriage was in chaos, but God, through the G12 vision, brought it back into order.

It's amazing to look back and then to see where we are now. Ministering together at an encounter. Leading cell groups together. Doing marriage and pre-marriage counseling. So in love. God didn't bring us back to the place that we started at the beginning of our marriage, He brought us to a place we didn't even knew existed. I love my husband. I love the G12 vision. I love God.


*Ok, we didn't really "celebrate." But, my mom is watching J & S on Saturday, so we can go out to dinner!