God can bring LIFE to your darkest moment
Two hopeless couples find God, hope and each other!
Let’s face it – without hope, relationships are impossible.
Two couples – Gabby and Guillermo – and Christina and Cosmin – each faced insurmountable challenges in their relationships.
Without hope …
Without perseverance …
Without direction …
WITHOUT GOD …
Individually watched their lives crumbling and their marriages slipping away.
Gabby and Guillermo
In the case of Gabby and Guillermo, it is heart-wrenching to hear how the pain of Guillermo’s past abuse resurfaced and caused a strain on their marriage. It is understandable how Gabby would feel alone and uncertain about their future together.
Guillermo bravely shared, “I was sexually abused. I took that pain, and I buried it. And it was not until the early years of our marriage where that actually manifested, and it completely blew open.”
Gabby said, “I got pregnant right away. And I thought at the beginning that it was maybe because I had a baby, and I had gotten bigger and I don’t know … he just started to drift away. He became angrier. I thought it was me. It came out that he was looking at pornography. For a long time, I tried to think that was normal.”
“I just felt angry,” Guillermo said. “And I think early on, it was difficult for me to understand why Gabby didn’t fully understand all of that.”
Guillermo’s buried pain from sexual abuse and Gabby’s misconception that her husband’s addiction to pornography was normal resulted in a breakdown of communication and a loss of trust.
It was not until they started listening to Family Life Radio and were touched by the message of a song that they began to see the importance of turning to God and His Word for help.
“Our marriage started to fall apart, and I couldn’t see him anymore,” Gabby said. “I couldn’t talk to him. I felt very alone all the time. One day a counselor told us that I couldn’t change him. And obviously, I wasn’t going to understand or change the way I felt, and that we should divorce.”
One day Guillermo told Gabby about Family Life Radio. He had started doing the 30-day challenge, listening every day.
A marriage-saving message … in a song!
“I remember listening to a song, and [the lyrics to the song] was ME!” Gabby said, “I just started crying because I felt like that. And I was hoping that Guillermo would be hearing [the same song] so he would understand [how I felt]. And he was!” She said with a smile and a heavy sigh of relief.
In the moments that Gabby hoped Guillermo was listening, he said, “It was literally the first time I had heard it.”
It was Sanctus Real’s song – Lead me!
I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames, I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling, but on the inside
Oh, I can hear her saying
Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can’t
Don’t leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us
Show me you’re willing to fight
That I’m still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone
Guillermo shared, “And I’m saying, ‘that’s me,’ because I should be leading my family.”
I would cry every day for weeks because God gave me a message. God gave me a song.
But after weeks, Guillermo said it became joy. “You’re never going to change the station because you’re never going to hear anything else, anywhere else, that’s going to fill you, that’s going to encourage you, that is going to be what it is that you need to hear.”
Cosmin and Christina
Similarly, we can understand the difficulties that Christina and Cosmin faced in their relationship. Cosmin’s rebellious behavior and lack of regard for God’s principles resulted in repeated incarceration, leaving them in a state of confusion and lies.
“We came together in a pretty rough time in both of our lives,” Cosmin began. “Like me believing lies and not being equipped. I reached a really rebellious mindset. I’m like, I don’t want to go to church. It’s a bunch of phony things, a bunch of rules that nobody could keep.’”
Looking back now, Cosmin shared, “You can imagine the mess that’s there when there’s no truth. There’s no foundation in truth. It’s just up … down … lies.”
Cosmin was in and out of jail several times. And he didn’t care! For him, it was a justifiable consequence for the crazy lifestyle He chose to live.
But in the midst of Cosmin’s darkest moments, he had a divine encounter with the Lord that changed his life forever.
Cosmin had a life-changing encounter with the Lord while in jail.
“I don’t know what happened, “Cosmin said. “I was ironically in a jail cell …. It’s where I got saved and turned my heart to the Lord. It’s just an ugly place to be at, but it’s where we started.”
Cosmin’s story is a powerful picture of the transformative power of Christ in our lives.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)!
No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, you can become a new creation in Christ and find hope and restoration in Him.
Freedom – not just in Prison
I went to visit him in prison,” Christina shared, “and that was when I saw the change firsthand. He was happier than I was. He was not free, and I was free on the outside.”
Christina’s mom had supported Family Life Radio for 30 years. “I remember getting in her car, and she would have it on.” Christina said it made her angry. She didn’t want to hear it, and she’d say, “Turn that off!”
After visiting Cosmin in prison, Christina went home to her mother’s and noticed the jacket cover of a CD. “It said, Hope, Christina shared. “I listened to that CD, like a hundred times. It was just nonstop. I didn’t know what was going to happen with Cosmin and me, but I knew that I needed to make these changes.”
God is always working for your good, even in the midst of difficult or challenging situations. “We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose” (Romans 8:28 CEV).
Before this moment in Christina’s life she admits, “It didn’t matter what it was … modeling came first. I was like, I might never have this opportunity again. I’m going to reject everything else in my life, and I’m going to go do this.”
Christina heard Dr. Randy Carlson say, “Hey, we’re having an Intentional Living [marriage] seminar.”
So, Christina bought the tickets, and planned to go. Then the day before, one of the wardrobe stylists called her and said, “Hey, we have a photoshoot. It would be tomorrow – Saturday.”
Normally Christina would have dismissed the conference and headed to the studio, but this time, something was very different.
Christina said no! This is exactly why I’m in the mess I’m in, she thought. If I keep doing this, I’m going to keep getting what I’m getting. How am I supposed to expect different results?
“I remember just holding the Bible and reading God’s Word, and again, knowing that that truth is doing something in my soul and in my heart,” Christina said.
It’s just this constant chase after worldly things that was leaving me empty in the end.”
By turning to God and seeking His truth they discovered new life and restoration. Both couples learned that the way to build a strong and lasting relationship is by keeping God at the center and by following His principles.
If you’re feeling burdened or weighed down by the challenges of life, including the struggles that both couples faced in their relationships, you can find rest and peace in Jesus. He said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 ESV).
Let Christina’s final words inspire you. “The way God cleaned this mess up is unbelievable to me. It’s beautiful. And God can do that for anybody. I mean no matter where you’re at – God can really turn a bad situation until something beautiful. Something great.”