Nothing is too broken for God. Though it seemed impossible then for Liza’s marriage to be restored, God proved that with Him, everything is possible. Here’s how God restored her broken marriage and gave her family a fresh start.
My relationship with my husband had been going downhill for 12 years. Though we stayed under one roof, we slept in different rooms and hardly spoke to each other. We made separate decisions and led separate lives. Even our children had gotten used to that setup.
At that time, I was filled with so much anger and bitterness that I seriously considered putting an end to our marriage. I consulted with different lawyers and told myself that after my youngest daughter’s high school graduation, I would file for an annulment and go back to my hometown in Baguio.
But God had other plans.
In November 2018, I attended a worship service in Victory for the first time and encountered God like never before. He reassured me that if I obey Him, He will restore all the broken pieces of my marriage. At that time, all I could do was cry. I really wanted to give up on my marriage, but God gave me the strength to follow Him instead.
Since then, my life started to change. I became part of a Victory group and later went through ONE 2 ONE and Victory Weekend. As my relationship with God grew deeper, my marriage with my husband also began to change for the better.
While preparing for our daughter’s 18th birthday celebration, my husband and I started to talk again. Though our marriage wasn’t fixed right away, we slowly became friends like before. I got to reconcile with his family and even joined their New Year’s Eve celebration last year.
For the past 12 years, I would celebrate Christmas with the kids and my family in Baguio, while my husband would celebrate New Year’s Eve with the kids and his family in Manila. That was how we celebrated the holidays for more than a decade. He was used to celebrating Christmas on his own, while I was used to celebrating New Year’s Eve alone or with friends. Celebrating a special day with him and our children again for the first time in years was something I never expected to happen.
While God was dealing with my heart last year, He taught me so many things about myself and our marriage. He made me realize that the anger I harbored in my heart for years made it impossible for me to see my own faults. I was too busy being angry that I had failed to see my shortcomings and the pain caused by my words and actions. God made me see beyond my brokenness and taught me to forgive and seek forgiveness.
By His grace, after 12 years of hopelessness, my husband and I got back together in April 2019 and celebrated our 20th anniversary. Since then, we started sharing meals again together as a family—something we didn’t get to do for a very long time—and began working on our marriage with God’s help.
If there’s one good thing that this crisis has brought to us, it is the chance to make up for the lost time and be a family again. Since the lockdown, we have been spending so much time together—with each other and with our children. Now we get to pray as a family and openly share our thoughts. Even our kids are more expressive now about the things they felt before and the things they feel now. It is amazing how God put all the broken pieces together and created something far more beautiful than what we used to have. In fact, last month He blessed us with the best anniversary gift: a romantic breakfast prepared by our children for our 21st anniversary. It reminded us of all the good times we’ve had.
Looking back, it’s amazing how God filled all the empty spaces in my heart and replaced the hurts with His love. It was His great love that gave me the strength and confidence to believe for the best then, when everything was broken and unclear. I know that whatever happens, His love will always be there for us—to pursue us and keep us together.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Liza del Mundo is a preschool teacher and guidance coordinator. She leads a Victory group in our church in Santa Cruz. She and her husband are continuously growing in their walk with God. Their son serves as a volunteer in music ministry; he and his siblings are all part of a Victory group.
