God, The Devil, and Divorce tells the story of a Christian woman’s marriage and divorce recovery from her “crazymaking” spouse; and how she learned to trust God along the way.
It shines a light on both emotional and spiritual abuse while giving hope to devout Christian women and men who've despaired of finding a good mate.
The list of thirty things I wanted in a mate and how the man I met ballroom dancing measured up to them.
Bill lives twenty-five miles north of me in Washington. On my way, I begin second-guessing myself. This is a long way to drive. What am I doing? I don’t really know this guy. Can I trust him? He could be faking this Christian stuff. I’m prepared to tell him my boundaries.
Bill’s condo is older than my townhouse, but nice, with tasteful furnishings. #13. He takes pride in his home, keeping things repaired and in reasonable order.
We go for a walk and then put the salmon on the barbeque. While it’s cooking, I venture, “Since you mentioned ‘rushing’ on Tuesday, I think it’s time to discuss boundaries. You see, I’ve decided to conduct my relationships God’s way. I hope, someday, He’ll give me another chance at marriage. Until then, I’ve pledged to remain celibate.”
Bill raises his eyebrows. “Interesting. This summer I decided to do the same. I’ve been single for ten years, and all that time I pursued relationships my way. It’s taken me that long to finally realize my way didn’t work. Two Sundays ago, I went up to the altar and told God that, from now on, I wanted to follow His guidelines. I feel at peace with my decision.”
Hallelujah! My friends have been telling me maybe I haven’t found the right man yet because he’s not ready for me. Maybe Bill is Mr. Right, and now he’s ready. Whoa, Nellie! It’s early yet. Don’t get too excited. #1. He is spiritually grounded; he trusts God as a wise and loving Father.
We’re so engrossed in our talking, we burn dinner. We laugh at ourselves as we eat charred salmon. #27. He enjoys cooking with me.
He wants to kiss me, and I sure want to kiss him. Oh, man, this is hard. Instead, I open my purse and hand him the book"Finding the Love of Your Life."
“What’s this?”
“Our relationship has grown so quickly, I wanted to be prepared,” I explain. “This book has some solid reasons for staying celibate until marriage. Dr. Clark maintains that having sex beforehand clouds our judgment of the other person. From my experience, I would agree. I want to get to know you better before we get too romantic.”
“Does this mean I don’t get to kiss you now?”
“Not until you read the book.”