“Restoration Happened Quickly and Suddenly”

Pre Testimony

“Missing the Solitude After Restoration”

“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” Psalm 119:71 NIV

This scripture has become the resonating theme throughout my Restoration Journey. I never thought in all my life that I would be giving thanks to my HH for allowing affliction to come into my life. But, if it were not for my marital affliction, I would never have come to know Him as my Lord, Savior, Heavenly Husband, Protector, Provider, and Friend. I would not have learned to put my complete and total trust in Him, and I most certainly would not have known the principle of tithing. Throughout this past year, I have been privileged to witness my HH move in ways unimaginable. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to trek this pilgrimage with the remarkable women of this ministry. I have learned so much and experienced such closeness with Him and was surprised the He has decided to Restore my marriage.

Yes, my dear, sweet, beloved sisters, I am restored! I thought that I would be shouting it from the rooftops, but the fact of the matter is, I now realize that I am going to miss the peaceful solitude that I shared with Him. It is such a challenging experience to move from being totally immersed in our HH to now being restored and again being a wife. This time I am totally committed to building my house on The Rock and submitting to my EH’s lead. This has been such a tremendous blessing and I am so thankful that I was led to this ministry.

So, I wanted to give praise to my HH for all of you. Thank you for allowing me the privilege to witness how He is moving in your life. Thank you for sharing your struggles, praises, and breakthroughs, as well as listening while I shared mine. Thank you for your willingness to submit to His call and be humbly transparent throughout your journey.

I will continue to SG as I have yet to complete my courses, but I will submit to His guidance and follow where this journey leads. I love you all so much, and I will continue praying for you and praising our HH for you.

“Restoration Happened Quickly and Suddenly”

“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” Proverbs 14:1, NIV. Before coming here, I was foolish and tore my house down. I was pregnant with my third child. My EH was completing his Master’s degree part-time while also working full-time as an Enlisted member of the United States Marine Corps. I was completely overwhelmed with life. Nothing, not one thing, was going right professionally, financially, emotionally or spiritually. I was just a mess. I was frustrated with the demands that life had placed on me. And because of my EH’s military orders, I was away from my family. I had to work to supplement his income, and I had to remain flexible to meet the ebb and flow of his demanding career and I was angry about it. What I did not realize is that my HH allowed this war to rage inside of me in order to teach me how to “die to self,” and build my life upon the Rock.

My anger and resentment compounded each day with my EH. I often lashed out at him and blamed him for any and everything that went wrong. I was so foolish. One evening as my EH was preparing to go to class and I completely flipped out. I yelled, screamed and cursed at him. I let him know how angry I was that he was going to class and not helping me, his poor pregnant wife, with the kids. I got so upset that I followed him to the car screaming and yelling for all the neighbors to see. The more upset I got, the more he ignored me, and the angrier I became. I got so upset that I jerked the car door open and threw out his backpack. The backpack contained an expensive laptop that he bought me a while back. I threatened to leave and vowed that he would never see his children again. He just left and went to class.

We had several arguments before this one with me yelling and screaming. We wouldn’t talk for a few days after our arguments and then it would be okay, until I was upset about something else that was insignificant and the cycle would start all over. But not this time. After the last time when I threw his laptop and made a scene for the all neighbors to see, my EH remained silent and distant. A few days later, I awoke with a horrible stomach ache, my vision was blurry and I saw spots.

My EH took me to the ER to get checked out. During the drive, he informed me that he no longer wanted to be married. He told me he felt like we weren’t going anywhere. I asked if there was someone else, and he said no. I didn’t believe him.

Once we arrived at the hospital, I was immediately admitted, given medication, and told that they would have to induce my labor and take my son early. I was devastated. I felt that I was being punished for all of the wrong that I committed against my EH. I just knew that my son wouldn’t make it. I kept telling myself that I had become a stranger to my Lord through my thoughts and deeds and there was nothing “Christ-like” about me. I even convinced myself that Job who was an upright man lost his children so why wouldn’t I lose my child? My son was born almost 2 months premature. Yet, my son not only survived, but also thrived. However, this wake-up call was not enough to change me. I was angry again because I felt that my EH wasn’t there for me during the birth of our son. This led to another fight. He then boldly announced that our relationship was over, he wanted a divorce and he was moving out the second I returned to work. I was devastated.

I remember calling out to the Lord, begging and pleading with Him to move to change my EH’s mind or something. Well the Lord answered, but not in the way that I wanted Him to answer. He did not change my situation; He began to change me! After crying out to the Lord, I googled something on my computer and came across this ministry. I read the words “This IS your Divine appointment. Your life is about to change—forever!!” I ordered the materials and devoured them. I read the book in two days. I cried due to my deep conviction, but I felt light, and relieved as I had finally learned the truth and I was set free!

As for God, His way is perfect: The Lord taught me that His word is flawless; He shields all who take refuge in Him (Psalm 18:30, NIV). He taught me how to let go and to honestly and truly seek Him, and not look to Him for what He could do for me. I learned how to be quiet and content in my circumstance. I was so engulfed in Him that my restoration happened suddenly and I didn’t even realize it!

The most difficult time of my restoration came when my EH wanted to have a conversation about developing a visitation schedule and his desired child support amount. I was devastated. The first time it was brought up, I began begging and pleading with him to stay and not leave. We were in the car picking our daughter up from school. I got so emotional that I had to ask my EH to pull over. I ran into the restroom of a local fast food store and wept! I did not cry, I wept! I wept so hard that I did not recognize my face in the mirror. I SG then returned to the car.

Several weeks later, the subject was brought up again. But this time I told him that I knew that He would be fair and reasonable and whatever he decided, I would agree to it. My EH hung his head, walked away and he never broached the subject again. This was also the turning point in my restoration journey, as I began to see and feel my HH’s hand over my life. While I was dying on the inside, He kept me calm and agreeable. It was amazing to see His words come to life in my life. It was at this point that I began to embrace the opposition that came upon me. I realized that through these obstacles I could see His strength perfected in my life. It was through the challenging times that I came to appreciate my affliction, as I was able to learn His decrees. The harder things got, the more I prayed, praised, and read His Words.

My restoration happened quickly and suddenly. It was soon after I let go of attending church and I found that my relationship with Him was all that I needed to make me happy. One day my EH was planning to move out and on with his life, and then the very next day he wasn’t. It is as if we never had this rough patch in our marriage. My EH doesn’t even speak about it and instead is planning our life and our future together as a family. He wants us to start our own business and he is complementary.

As wonderful as this change is, I literally don’t have a moment’s peace because my EH wants to spend every waking hour of every day TOGETHER! I found myself struggling with keeping up with my lessons and volunteer work with RMI. Then my HH revealed to me that He had given me exactly what I wanted. My EH never even moved out. In fact, we are relocating to a new state soon. Because things are happening so quickly, we had to move into a teeny tiny apartment until we hit the road later on this month. I was SO afraid that the next time I had to move, I would be alone with my children. Yet now I am simply SO thankful that he knows the desires of our hearts and whatever is up ahead will be a blessing just for me!

I would recommend How God Can and Will Restore Your Marriage and the Workers at Home as mandatory resources for restoring your marriage.

Finally, I would love to help and encourage other women who are on this Restoration Journey. I would encourage every woman to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness by seeking an intimate relationship with our HH and completely submerging yourself in Him—everything else just falls into place.

1st Restoration Baby Born May 27, 2014

2nd Restoration Baby Born March 23, 2017

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:5,8 NIV

When I first started my restoration journey I was barren. Barren is defined as too poor to produce much or any vegetation, which basically means unfruitful. My HH revealed to me that I was unfruitful because I was not truly connected to Him. I was going through the motions of being a Christian but I really did not have a true and authentic relationship with Him until He allowed my marriage to fall apart. It was at that time I was stripped of every idol that I worshiped and placed before Him. No job, no money, nothing. He allowed me time to rest. He removed lover and friend far from me and provided complete solitude in order for me to experience Him and His love without distraction or interruption.

It was during this time that I was able to get to know Him as my Lord, then my Savior, and then fully embrace Him as my HH. Once I recognized that apart from Him I could do nothing, I totally surrendered my life to Him. I then followed His decrees. I started tithing, I started leaning not on my own understanding, but I began trusting Him with my whole heart and I made up in my mind that whatever He took me in life, and whatever He allowed to happen to me, would be well with my soul!

Once I allowed Him to take over, He began to give me the desires of my heart and restore the things I lost. Now He has gifted me with yet another wonderful blessing, my EH and I are expecting our fourth child!

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Psalm 127:3, NIV.

I am just in awe and so thankful for all that He has done for me. I don’t feel like I deserve to be rewarded because I am still flawed but I am humbled that He chose to bless me in this manner. I am SO excited to embark upon this phase of my journey with Him and I can’t wait to hold and kiss my little blessing!

Thank you for allowing me to share this phase of my journey with you. I love you all and I am praying with and for you.

~ Cierra in Kentucky