Dawn Street (10 Nov 2007)
"Re: An Evangelical Rethink on Divorce"


 
I am a Christian who has been divorced twice and I have been a Christian since childhood.
 
After the first divorce, I felt ostrasized and unclean.  It was as if I had committed the unpardonable sin as far as my Christian friends were concerned.  I tried desperately to fit in, inviting the parents of my children's friends to my home for meals, etc.  I quit that when the mother of one told me she would never invite a single woman into her home because she was afraid for her marriage.  Her husband might be attracted to another woman.  Like he wouldn't face that temptation daily in the work place?  There was no place for me in church leadership or service because, "after all, she is divorced, you know."  My own sister was overheard by one of my children making a derogatory statement about them being from a "broken home."  She is 8 years younger than I and had the audacity to accuse me of wanting her husband.  I can assure I did not want anyone's husband!!
 
I have heard the voice of God several times during my life, usually when I was in a deep crisis or facing a very difficult decision.  The voice I have heard was comforting, like the sound of a brook or the wind in the trees.  It was not harsh and condemning but reassuring.  I have only heard His voice while in deep prayer and total submission and brokenness.  His voice brought peace to my troubled spirit.
 
The first time I heard it was in the wee hours of the morning when my husband had not yet made it home.  I was frightened and alone with my preschooler.  And I was very pregnant with my second child.  God wrapped His arms around me and held me close.  It was like being swaddled in a blanket and held as a mother holds her child.  He said, "It's okay.  He is in my hands."  I was able to fall asleep in His arms.  My husband had been speeding down the freeway under the influence of alcohol at the time I woke up in panic mode!  God took care of him and protected him and the police put him in the drunk tank.
 
The second time I heard His voice was several years later.  Again, it was late at night and my husband had not made it home.  He had gone into town that morning to put his paycheck in the bank and was supposed to be home by lunch.  It was Dec. 31.  He went to a New Year's Party without me and without calling me to tell me he would not be home.  I had finished my Bible reading and had read an article by Billy Graham about looking at the roadsigns in your life.  Where are they leading you?  My marriage was a sham.  He was drinking heavily and becoming verbally and physically abusive.  He had multiple affairs and the women of our small village had already approached me about reining him in.  Like I could!!  God said, "It's okay.  You can leave now."  It was the hardest thing I ever did because I loved my husband in spite of all he had done.  I didn't know how I would raise 3 children by myself.  But I did it with God and with my parents' help.
 
Divorce #2:  I married a man who had been a deacon, whose wife had treated him the same way my husband had treated me (he said) and who also had 3 children the ages of mine.
My oldest daughter married and she and her husband eventually had a child.  That made me a Grandmother!!  He did not want to be married to a Grandmother!  After the rather nasty divorce, I discovered he too had been unfaithful before and during the marriage.
 
Now, I met both of these men at church, both professed to be Christian and both made vows they did not keep, both were unfaithful before and after marriage, both had become abusive toward me and the second one  toward the children.  Neither marriage was an example of what God intended marriage to be.  I am confident God released me from those marriages.
 
Husband #3 has been through life's battles and is one of the most humble Christian men I have ever known.  I do not have to worry about his faithfulness.  We are able to laugh together and worship together.  We are growing old together.  This love is totally different from what I found before.  It is total acceptance of me as an individual, who I am and where I am.  He is truly a gift from God (and no, he is not perfect but then neither am I).
 
I have 5 children and I am so thankful to God because all 5 are Christians and all but one have Christian spouses.  They are active in their churches and they are raising their children in the nurture of the Lord.  They tell me that partly due to what they witnessed in my life, my struggles, they are committed to their marriages.  Even my sons-in-law have made that statement.  I feel so blessed.