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Praise
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Update- The past few years
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So... Some may remember me from a few years past. I've been off and on -again listening and not watching the forums closely. When I checked in the last time, my marriage was being (successfully) attacked and destroyed by the powers of darkness and I was looking to rebuild and refine myself as well... to learn what I could do to be a better man from the experience.
In the months following my divorce I found some peace in simple quiet and solitude, being myself and allowing myself to know who I was without a spouse to sway and account for. I found some peace in that solitude and enjoyed the simplicity I had gained by removal of so many THINGS in my home and life. My son and I re-forged some connections that allowed for him to become more of an individual and peel his own identity more fully from my own. He wanted to meet his Mother, as she hadn't been in his life for all of his conscious memory. We did that, he established the groundwork for a relationship and they still communicate regularly (in this age it's not so hard to stay in touch over mere physical distance). He got his first girlfriend and we got him braces. (as an aside here... he's also grown to over 6 foot tall, with all signs of hitting 6'4" before he's through, taken up cross country running and doing it with incredible vigor and pride. He's made me very proud.)
At work the nightmare call center job I had been enduring for years metamorphosed as I transfered out, got insurance, got benefits and became a real full-time employee with a job loaded with hillarity, stress, incredible brotherhood and a boss who is an inspiration (yes, she sent me home today cause I have a bad cold and she wanted me to get well more than she wanted all the work to get done). In short my life blossomed. I spent more time around friends, family, and reacquainted myself with old friends and habits I enjoyed.
One day I realized there was a friend I hadn't approached... and ex-fiancée from over a decade prior who had kept in touch with some family members. She was like a daughter/sister to my family, and it hurt them when we broke up, but they stayed connected, and it was finally a time where I could reach out to her in friendship without feeling like it was a betrayal to my spouse. I sent her a message on Facebook, "If an old friend showed up, would it be happy chance, or unwelcome intrusion?"
It was several days before I heard back, and she and I messaged, and then spoke on the phone. She was going through a divorce, had in fact been moved out of her house by her husband on the day I sent that message. From the start I told her that I was here for her as a friend, one who had been close once and would hold her best interest in my heart in all things. (Did I mention she lives 500+ miles from me now?)
Long story made short, we stayed in contact, visited each other when we could. I walked with her through her divorce and through a betrayal by friends and family. We have been best friends for a year and a half now, and as of 12/23 we are husband and wife. She has healed in me wounds I did not know existed from how we last left things, and brought the blessings of 3 children into my life. We are still living 500+ miles apart, but that's just distance of body. She knows and understands God as I have come to understand him in my time of delving into the Word with y'all and with Bryan (Brian? Dunno for I or Y).
I guess the greatest affirmation and happiness is the peace that is between us, and in our families. My sister posting that she is so glad to have HER sister back, my mother in law who cant stop referring to her daughter as "your wife" instead of by her own name... and the glad smiles of my new kids when I see them and enjoy their presence.
There is still some sand in the wounds, my son (almost 17 now) who is still reluctant and hesitant to embrace the changes, he was hurt deeply when my ex turned on him and doesnt want to open up again, things that need to be tended to in order to make things harmonious all around. But I am not just married right now, I'm whole. I'm not just happy, but I'm content and can feel GOOD being the head of the home and leading my family into financial, spiritual, and physical health and happiness.
I'm daily going back to scripture and listening to the Word, because I want and need to, and, very importantly, because I know my wife needs and wants me to lead her and our family in His plan.
*And if anyone was listening and put 2 and 2 together, yeah, she was the one who was under the ATM overhang with the tornado passing overhead. That was part of the system that generated the Joplin tornadoes that leveled the whole area. *
So anyways, I"ll shut up now, God bless.
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Forge 01/09/2012 11:36 |
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Davidwayne Lackey
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01/09/2012 22:15 |
Awesome testimony Forge! May God bless you and your family more than you ever dreamed.
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Craig from Illinois
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01/10/2012 06:40 |
Thanks for sharing your story, Forge. You've had a wild ride with lessons learned! You used the word "content". I think that is the place where every strives to be.
Keep posting, Forge. I like your stories!
Craig
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Joyce
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01/10/2012 09:30 |
Wow, great testimony, so encouraging and uplifting. Thanks for sharing it with us and I agree with Craig keep posting!!!
Blessings
Joyce
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Helga
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01/10/2012 20:33 |
Forge, I am so happy for you and thank you for sharing. Maybe it would help if you listen to the fight for Life series which Brian read last year. The last part was about fighting for the heart of our children. Listen to it and maybe God will help you to communicate with your son so that he also can be healed from what hurts him.
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