Emotionally divorced Christian couple testified how God powerfully restored their broken relationship.
A Christian Couple
Janet and Rusty Richards testified about God’s powerful restoration as they shared their journey as a married couple. According to Janet, they both worked at the same company and were introduced to each other by their boss. She initially saw Rusty as a rock and roll hippie needing salvation. Meanwhile, Rusty’s first impression of Janet was that she was serious.
Rusty then recalled how he started pursuing his wife. It began when his brother-in-law, who is also his co-worker, had a dream. In the dream, he was in a church witnessing a couple getting married. The Lord spoke to the couple saying, “If you see to the everyday love, I will see to the lifetime love.” The couple that his brother-in-law saw was him and Janet.
Rusty pursued Janet while she was dating another guy. They began meeting for guitar lessons and quickly fell in love. Janet remarked, “We fell hard and fast. We were married quite soon after that.” She added that there was no doubt in her mind that what they had was a God-covenant marriage. What they didn’t know was that they needed that faith in the years to come.
GODTV (Screenshot). (2022). GODTV, GOD TV Standing Together. Retrieved December 13, 2023 from: https://www.god.tv/video/gp_standtog22_s1_201_gl-mp4/zype
Emotionally Divorced
One year into their marriage, they found themselves emotionally divorced due to their backgrounds in dysfunctional families. Rusty explained, “Her family was filled with blame, accusation, and anger. Meanwhile, my family carried a heavy burden of shame and guilt.” The collision of these dynamics ignited conflict in their marriage. Initially resistant to counseling, Rusty witnessed Janet’s transformative journey, which eventually opened his heart.
Their pastor counseled them for six months, and Rusty recalled a valuable lesson he learned. He shared that during the counseling, they were likened to a growing plant in a garden surrounded by weeds. In this analogy, it was advised not to pull the weeds, as doing so could affect the plant’s roots.
“Rather than pull weeds, you should water the things that you want to see grow,” he explained.
After that counseling, Rusty began focusing on Janet’s strengths and ceased pointing out her weaknesses.
“We worked very hard at our marriage for the first number of years. Because we have to learn new ways of relating, and it really paid off,” she testified.
The covenant they made with God kept them going. It took 10 years for them to experience complete reconciliation.
“Without God, we would have not made it,” Janet highlighted.
Watch their full testimony here.
Reference | GOD TV
Header Image: GODTV (Screenshot). (2022). GODTV, GOD TV Standing Together. Retrieved December 13, 2023 from: https://www.god.tv/video/gp_standtog22_s1_201_gl-mp4/zype