Helena, how did your restoration actually begin?
It all started in January, three years ago, when on the first day of the month, my partner told me that he was not okay with us being together, that we no longer were getting along. This happened after we'd been living together for more than 15 years. I felt lost, like the ground beneath me was gone. I was desperate, because my partner had been everything to me.
How did God change your situation, Helena, as you sought Him wholeheartedly?
I began to search for God, without ceasing, day and night. I prayed. I fasted. I cried; I cried a lot. In the most difficult hours, always at night, I would beg God to help me. It was then that I found RMI. I discovered My Beloved, and slowly He began to reveal Himself to me. He came in a very real and special way to comfort me, and then He began pouring His balm of peace and comfort upon my life. I could really feel it happening; it was something real; it was wonderful--something I had never felt before. I had been in the church for over 18 years. I knew Jesus was my Savior, but it was due to this separation that I began to know my Beloved HH.
Once I found RMI, I began reading the daily Encourager every day, and I began to take the first course and read the book How God Can and Will Restore Your Marriage. From there, I began to see my mistakes, my Contentious side, seeing the argumentative and selfish person I really was. The Lord then began to work in my life, and I began to see my life changing—I became more meek and sweet, and I finally realized I was precious in the eyes of God.
What principles, from God's Word (or through our resources), Helena, did the Lord teach you during this trial?
I began to read the Bible in a more meaningful way, and He always showed me this verse. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). I did not at first understand what He meant, so I went deeper and deeper into His Word.
It was after filling out the Marriage Encouragement Questionnaire that I realized why He had removed "lover and friend" far from me. I'd been living in sin, and I'd made my partner first in my life.
What were the most difficult times that God helped you through, Helena?
I spent almost all day working, my children stayed at home, and when I arrived at night, this was a difficult time. There was an emptiness in my house, so I cried, cried, cried, and the Lord came to my rescue, and it calmed me down. Once I had my HH, everything changed, and joy returned to my life and our home.
Helena, what was the “turning point” of your restoration?
I'd been on my restoration journey for about eight months, when I found the Ministry of RMI, through a woman I met on Facebook. It was during Course 1 when I read Valerie's testimony “Married to My Son’s Father”, that I knew what God had for my future.
Tell us HOW it happened, Helena? Did your husband just walk in the front door? Helena, did you suspect or could you tell you were close to being restored?
After so many changes, people began to talk about me to my former partner, and soon he began to notice and began to visit the children and me more often. Instead of coming once or twice a month, or just on weekends, he would come more often during the week. One night he asked to sleepover, but I remembered Valerie's testimony and asked him to sleep in the room with our sons.
At first, he was baffled, but then he became angry. I knew now what was right and just lovingly stayed committed to my HH. A full ten months later, he came by, and he brought everything he had taken to go live with the other woman. I didn't know what to do or say, and then he said, "Go put on your prettiest dress. We're going to get married." Today is our 2 month anniversary, and everything is just as I imagined it would be.
Would you recommend any of our resources in particular that helped you, Helena?
Yes, the book How God Can and Will Restore Your Marriage, reading the Daily Encouragement and working through each of the courses. All this was fundamental to a transformation of my life. It was the way my Beloved used to transform me and reveal Himself and the truth to me.
Would you be interested in helping encourage other women, Helena?
Yes
Either way, Helena, what kind of encouragement would you like to leave women with, in conclusion?
Never give up. Stay the course. Allow God to transform you and slowly reveal His truth to you.
Update: It has been practically a year since my partner returned home and we married. At the beginning, everything was wonderful, but after 3 months, our life began to go back to what it was before the separation. He returned back to being involved with the OW. And, as foolish as it sounds, I then returned back to chasing after him, becoming desperate. Then it hit me; I'd left my first Love again! I put my earthly husband first in my life. No wonder my relationship with my husband became distant and bland.
Today, I'm here with immeasurable praise. The moment I turned my eyes to my Beloved, my Heavenly Husband, is when I saw the OW drop my husband. Dear brides, you must want and need Him to be first in your life, and it must stay that way once God blessed you with restoration.
Don't give up on your dreams, but they must be to have what He has for you. Whatever your plan is, His is much better. Remain focused on your first real Love, which is the most important of all, and put your HH first in your life and in everything you do.