Finding Hope for Your Marriage
I get countless emails from wives who feel hopeless in their marriage and if this is you, then today I have a fabulous resource you’ll absolutely love! My friend Becky and her co-author, Jen put together a thirty-day devotional journey that meets hurting and heartbroken wives right in the midst of a difficult marriage and gently encourages them to find hope that truly lasts.
Read what Becky has to say below.
Live a poured out life for Christ,
Jolene
We knew the depth of the covenant we made, “For better or for worse,” but who really expects the worst as they recite their wedding vows? We tend to think that’s a phrase for every marriage except ours.
Years later, though, the for worse came knocking at my door. Suddenly, all the lies and half-truths sat exposed. My husband kept apologizing to me while others were saying things about my marriage that I could not process. It was safe to say that my marriage was crumbling in front of my eyes. I became a spectator in my own life as events unraveled around me.
How do you survive the fall from thriving marriage to being completely blindsided by the truth? I never intended to need to know that answer. I can tell you with certainty, though, that it’s only by the grace and mercy of Jesus.
As I spent time with the Lord, He reminded me that He is the only guarantee in this life.
I first met Jen Stults, my co-author, in a blogging group on Facebook. Over time, I learned that she was also working through a struggling marriage.
She was learning to be a warrior wife as her husband dealt with seasons of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The challenges she faced as a pastor’s wife, while also fighting for her marriage, produced in her a deep need to wholly rely on the Lord.
The true battle, in any of our marriages, is not one we fight against our husband. Rather, it’s a battle we fight on our knees; we cry out to the Lord for His guidance, restoration, and redemption. Through the struggles in her marriage, Jen grew in her faith and determination to fight for her marriage the right way – through prayer.
Jen has hit on a very important word that God is using to reach wives who need the deep encouragement she provides. That word is simply “unloved”. A significant amount of traffic to her marriage posts comes from that one word. How sad to know that people were searching for “unloved”, yet how beautiful that God pointed them to Jen’s blog where they could find hope.
Last fall, we both had an increase in traffic at our blogs, particularly in posts related to marriage. We considered joining forces in some manner to maximize our efforts to encourage struggling wives. We decided on a short eBook based on blog posts we had already written. After just one month, the response was overwhelming – women were writing to ask for more. We decided to take that 14-day eBook and add to it, in order to provide a month of encouragement.
Hope for the Hurting Wife: 30 Days of Practical Encouragement for Your Marriage is a thirty-day devotional journey that meets hurting and heartbroken wives right in the midst of a difficult marriage and gently encourages them to find hope that truly lasts.
We know many wives truly wish to avoid divorce. The pain and suffering experienced when marriage doesn’t go as planned are very real. Through personal stories of heartache and scriptural insight, we address topics such as:
•Moving forward after trauma
•Loving even when you feel unloved
•Protecting your heart
•Understanding the power of choice
•Trusting God while waiting for redemption
If you feel that you’ve lost all hope, we’d love to invite you to take this month-long journey with us. We can’t make any promises about the outcome of your marriage as we cannot know God’s ways. But we truly believe you will find hope through a deeper relationship with Jesus. That relationship will be a blessing to you for the rest of your life and will provide a foundation you need when all seems hopeless.
Jen and I rejoice today at the work God has done in our husbands. Our marriages are far from perfect, but God has restored and redeemed them. Hope for the Hurting Wife is part of that redemption story for us.
This book is for every wife, whether newlywed or married for fifty-plus years. If you’re in a slight season of frustration, or if your marriage seems nearly over, Hope for the Hurting Wife holds comfort for you.
We are praying for you and for your marriage. If you are struggling, there is hope!
God gave Rebekah a front row seat to the work of His redemption in her marriage. After surviving the initial trauma, she determined to fix her eyes solely on Jesus and trusted Him to carry her through the storm that followed. Rebekah shares not only her heartache, but also her great hope with other wives so they might know God still redeems, even in the toughest of circumstances. Now, years later, she praises God for restoring her marriage.
Rebekah co-leads an online community for struggling wives around the world and shares encouragement for those who face the daunting task of surviving the “for worse” of marriage. You can learn more about her ministry to wives at her blog, Sharing Redemption’s Stories.
Grown missionary kid, mother of four, and wife to a church planter, Jen Stults is a work-in-progress woman who seeks to find confidence in Christ alone. As a disciple-maker, author, and speaker, she encourages women who feel frustrated by failure and plagued by perfectionism. Her heart’s desire is for women everywhere to experience the abundant life God has planned for them by finding freedom in their identity in Christ. She writes about the struggle to embrace everyday grace in the areas of faith, marriage, and parenting at her blog, Being Confident of This.
