RESTORED Marriage Testimony: “Not Prepared enough to Weather the Storms of Restoration”

What brought you to RMI? Please use this space to briefly let our readers know what your life was like when you first found us, Catalina, so our readers understand just what a miracle your restoration is.

Catalina, how did your restoration actually begin?

All my life I had a religion I practiced but I did not know what it was like to really have a deep intimate relationship with the Lord. And perhaps because of that, due to my pride, selfishness and religious arrogance, I threw my marriage away. After many fights my husband and me pushing my religion on him, judging his thoughts and actions and lack of action, he simply could not stand me anymore and decided that it was in our best interest to stay away from each other for a while, and he left.

How did God change your situation Catalina as you sought Him wholeheartedly?

Thanks to a very special person in my life and this transformation, the same day my husband left, she came over to calm me down and showed me this marriage restoration site. I thank her every day because I know it was a message from God to me, that it was He who allowed this situation so that I could approach Him, to really know Him for the first time in my life. And since that day, I have seen how guilty I was of tearing my house down with my own hands, and how much I have forced my husband to make that decision to leave. I became a loathing to him and when I read that in my evaluation, I knew, I just knew this was my Divine Appointment to meet Him. So I decided that from that moment I would speak of myself as His bride, take my Maker as my Husband forever. Did it feel strange? Yes, at times I wondered what I was doing and honestly felt nothing I was saying to Him. But over time what I said about only wanting and needing Him became my reality!

What principles, from God’s Word (or through our resources), Catalina, did the Lord teach you during this trial?

God taught me the meekness of heart was what He delighted in, not the arrogant religious fanatic I’d been most of my adult life. He taught me that to be a wife that lived harmoniously with her husband, rather than a constant dripping, I needed to become the Bride of my HH “Heavenly Husband.” He taught me to talk to my HH about every difficulty, never speaking to another soul about what only He could resolve, and oh the joy that we received was this wonderful abundant life I never knew existed.

What were the most difficult times that God helped you through Catalina?

It was 2 months after my husband left that he returned home again, but God was so wonderful to me that called me to go through these difficulties in order for me to learn in a calm and serene way, about always waiting on Him. Every time I hesitated or became lost, He was there to show me the truth through His Word or send this same friend who calmed me down and pointed me back to Him.

Catalina, what was the “turning point” of your restoration?

When I actually established a true relationship with God through my Heavenly Husband. He wanted me to learn here, it was then that I was able to begin to see my husband return back to our family when he forgave me and he returned back home.

Tell us HOW it happened Catalina? Did your husband just walk in the front door? Catalina, did you suspect or could you tell you were close to being restored?

My husband was slowly coming back and began forgiving me as I watched the hurt in his heart start fading away slowly. He wanted us to be a family again, just not the family we’d been all these years. We have a beautiful 8-year-old grandson who lives with us, and he missed his papa very much and it was the best joy to be able to have him at home again, seeing them together.

Would you recommend any of our resource in particular that helped you, Catalina?

Study the testimonies, I ordered all your paperback books, not just the By the Word of Their Testimonies, so I could mark them, highlight the important things I needed to ask God to help me charge. I also began to highlight things in different colors for situations were like mine to remind me, yes, God can restore my marriage too. The lessons were fundamental to my restoration. They taught me and calmed my heart. Read the testimonies of other wives who filled with faith and courage to continue.

My friend bought several How God Can and Will Restore Your Marriage books and brought one to me on that fateful day. Currently, I am studying A Wise Woman in Course 3 and continue to read the Daily Encourager.

Would you be interested in helping encourage other women Catalina?

Yes! I really hope to devote myself to being an online evangelist now that I’m better on my computer.

Either way Catalina, what kind of encouragement would you like to leave women with, in conclusion?

I would like you to believe in the restoration of your marriage even if it is not as fast you would like it to be. God has His appointed time and it will happen when you have your HH fully in your heart. Don’t rush through your journey, this time is not just for waiting but it’s to prepare yourself. So if you haven’t been restored yet, it’s simply because you are not yet prepared enough to weather the storms of restoration.

Dear Brides, today is the day to learn that no matter the issue, problem, or circumstance, that our only hope is in knowing Him intimately! Religion won’t even save you and it will leave you spiritually arrogant. Let go of your church and embrace Him. When you do you will realize He has every single situation under His control and command! This will strengthen and encourage you to no longer stress or worry or try to figure everything out. Instead, you will be able to begin waiting patiently for the Lord, and trust God with your restoration. I promise He will incline His heart to your every need and listen to your every cry. He will bring you, as He brought me, up out of the miry clay, and He set your feet upon a rock making your footsteps firm as He did mine. Psalm 40:1-2.

The Lord longs to change you from the inside out. His transformative power is capable of doing the unimaginable in our lives! He is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless if our hearts are fully His and if we surrender to the will that He has for our lives. How easy is this! You’ll never know until you want Him only. Simply learn to rest and abide in Him as He orchestrates the outcome of each and every situation you face along your life’s journey.