I had been in several dead-end relationships for many years. Always thinking “This will be the ONE,” and he never was. I so desperately wanted to get married and have children. I was in a very unhealthy relationship for four years before my now-husband. … It was extremely detrimental to my well-being. Looking back, I am so thankful for God giving me the strength to break it off, even though it took me several times before I made it permanent. God was in my life, but I was being disobedient and didn’t trust He’d bring me the right man at the right time. My priorities were all wrong.

After that relationship was finally over, I dedicated myself to the Bible, desperate to make God my one and only. I prayed and thanked God in advance for the godly husband He would bring me, but my main focus was building and repairing my relationship with Jesus. I had put Him on the back burner, thinking only of my own strength. God wants us to trust in Him, to depend on Him, to put Him first, and to love Him and obey Him. I so desperately wanted to get married, but it finally clicked that if I didn’t put Christ first, my next relationship would be a mess.

I met my husband through our church. My number one requirement was that he loved God more then anything else. Early on, I knew he did. We often prayed together and read the Word together. We dated for almost two years before he proposed. We saved ourselves for marriage. It was hard, but we knew we were being obedient to God and He would bless us.

Two years later we are married and have a beautiful baby, who is now 13 months. My husband is such a blessing!!!!! I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep Christ at the center. — Melissa W.