Paul and Elizabeth met at work and knew early on that they wanted to spend their lives together. They married and had two children, and Paul began working in a church as the Director of Children and Family Ministry and eventually the Director of Youth Ministry.
Seeds of resentment began to take root in Elizabeth’s heart as Paul took more pride in his work, and a distance grew between them. Soon they found themselves still acting out the role of a happy family while feeling far from it.
Paul found himself looking for solace in places outside of his marriage and eventually began an affair with a long time friend. “I had an affair that nobody knew about,” Paul explained.
“And yet, every Sunday morning, I’m up in front of the church and nobody knows what’s going on inside of me.”
Fear and shame drove the two of them further apart, and a lack of communication brought them to a place of separation. Divorce papers were filed, and Paul moved out.
In the midst of everything, Paul was asked to leave his position at the church. At a moment where he had lost everything, he took pride in his car, a 2004 Mustang GT Convertible. He brought it to LCBC’s Motorsports show and decided to check out the church.
“I woke up on a Sunday morning, and I didn’t have a children’s sermon to do, I didn’t have any part of a service to do, I thought, y’know I’m gonna go to LCBC.” Paul remembers. “After standing in front of a church for 7-8 years, I wanted to sit in the back of the church.”
After making the decisions he thought were best for him, Paul felt alone and ashamed. And even in one of the most painful times in her life, Elizabeth remembers feeling a sense of hope. “The amazing thing to me was that in the midst of all this pain, I felt like every time I turned around, God was showing me that he was there.”
It was at that point that Paul realized that even though he had turned his back on God, that God had never turned his back on him. And Elizabeth found that being in such a broken place made it easier for her to hear what God was trying to tell her.
One weekend Paul found himself sitting at LCBC, and the sermon was all about love. “And the whole time through that message, I thought, the person I love the most is not sitting next to me.” The next day he got in touch with Elizabeth. He asked her if they could make things work.
But when they decided to get back together, they had one condition: they weren’t just going to “try.” It was an all in, 100% commitment. Today, they’ve been back together for 2 years, and their marriage is even stronger than it was when they got married.
“God loves us no matter what, it’s just remarkable.”