Let's pick up right where we left off shall we?! :)
Through
out the years my Cowboy and I have had a lot of trust issues. As I said
in my last post about 2 years into our relationship I made a pretty big
mistake. I had been denying this to him whenever he would ask me about
it. I am not sure why? Maybe I was afraid of losing him or of what he
would do? Even after his few little "mistakes" I never told him the
truth. Granted he never crossed the line like I did but it's all the
same when it comes to being unfaithful to the one you love right? In the
end the result is the same weather it's an emotional affair or a
physical one. No matter if it lasted one night or 6 months, it still
hurts. It still carries heavy trust issues in the relationship.
So
why did I choose that night in April to finally admit to him what I had
done? Why deny something for 11 years and then just spit it out one
night? Because I just didn't care anymore! I think that's the main
reason. Looking back on it from where I am now I think that I wanted to
push him away. Maybe he would take it easier when I told him I wanted a
divorce if he knew what I had done. Does that make sense? Let me tell
you how mad I got when he simply said "I know. I have known the whole
time but thanks for finally admitting it." Of course I was completely
taken back by his calmness. It's totally not like my husband to react
calmly to something like that. But I think he knew I was done. He knew
that I had finally reached that breaking point and it was over. I wanted
out!
I cried that night. Relief maybe, that it was
finally going to be over or maybe is was because I had just gotten rid
of the very heavy burden I had been carrying around for so many years. I
don't know but it was the first time I cried for myself in a long time.
My
Cowboy surprised me. He didn't scream or yell. He walked over to his
side of the bed, sat down and asked if we could fix it. "No!!" was my
answer! I didn't want to fix it!! I wanted to be free and alone and
happy! I knew that it would kill the kids when they found out but I told
myself that it was better then seeing all the fighting, hearing all the
angry words.....right?
Not so fast says my Cowboy! He
confessed all his wrong doings to me that night as well. I thought it
would make me feel better, more justified for having an affair but I was
just left with an even bigger feeling of guilt. We talked and he told
me that he loved me. That he wanted to work it out and asked if we could
seek counseling to fix us. I didn't want to. I just wanted him to
leave. Just go away!!! I wanted to be alone so bad!! He promised to give
me some space and he did. But after a couple days he came to me and
begged me to give us another chance. A chance to fix things. He told me
that he prayed about it. That he asked God for help. Something he hasn't
done in awhile. Yeah, yeah, yeah I said. All stuff I had heard before. I
was so cold, so uncaring. Little did I know the Lord was working on my
husband and he was working hard!
My husband comes from a
very strong pentecostal background. His grandfather was a very good
preacher and his dad is a very talented organist. He knows God and when
he is walking with Him, God tends to use him to help others. It's
actually amazing to see your husband go out of his way to go to someones
house and pray with then because God laid it on his heart to do so and
then come to find out that this person (that you haven't talked to in
years. Someone he was not even close to) was contemplating suicide just
an hour before he arrived to pray with him! Anyways, that's a story to
go into another time.
Where was I? Oh yes, so God was
really working on my Cowboy and even through the desperate feelings of
wanting to be alone to search for happiness I could see it. A few days
after that horrible night he came to me and he asked me to please just
try once more. He said that if we tried counseling and really gave it a
shot at working it out and I still felt the same way he would walk away
peacefully and give me the divorce I was seeking. OK, I could do that.
After all I felt nothing, had been feeling nothing for awhile so what
was a few more weeks dealing with it anyways? Ha! When I agreed to this I
had no clue, could never have even guessed at how it would turn out. At
that moment I bet the Lord smiled for his plan was set into motion. He
was about to change my life forever!
I started going
to church again with hopes of talking to our pastor about getting help.
It only took 2 weeks for my husband to prove to me that he had truly
changed. It only took one prayer from me for Jesus to tear down those
walls I had built around my heart. Turns out God was working on me too!
Oh what a wonderful day!!!
We dedicated our lives back
to God on May 3rd. It was the best day of my life! I was still a little
weary of things going back to the way they were before. It was my
biggest fear! But with every obstacle we came to my Cowboy was there to
show me that we could get through it! We started communicating more
about our feelings. That was something we completely lacked before. It
was amazing! It still is! :) I am still in awe of the person that he has
become.
Just like in the movie Fireproof, we had to
put God first. We each had to ask him to come back in to our lives and
into our hearts before he could fix the things we broke by living in the
world with out Him! How awesome is it that even when we turn our back
on God and choose the worldly life over Him, He is still there ready to
wrap His arms around us when we realize that we can't do it right with
out Him? He is amazing and I can't praise Him enough!!! He changed our
lives and He continues to do work in our hearts. We are still young in
the Lord and we still trip up every once I awhile but now we know what
life is like without Him. That is something that neither of us want to
expierence again. We learn from our mistakes and we continue to look to
Him for guidance! That's what Fathers do best. Guide their children
through lifes ups and downs and make sure they learn from the downs.
We
could have given up on each other. We could have let 13 years go like
it was nothing but a drop in the bucket. But I thank God everyday that
he gave my husband the strength to not let go. In turn He brought me out
of a dark, lonely place and sat me upon a foundation of glory and good.
He saved my family and my life!
Looking back on the
memories of my past doesn't hurt anymore. It leaves me feeling thankful
for what Jesus has done. It leaves me feeling proud that we weathered
the storm. It makes me happy that I have someone very powerful at my
side to pick me up and carry me when I feel like I can not take another
step. Let the praise be to my Father, my Savior, my God!!! For with out
him I am scared to know where we would have ended up!!!