A Time for Prayer

I asked my friend if I could share this and she said "yes, I need prayer warriors on my side".

My friend Beth is 21 and was just served divorce papers yesterday. She met her husband last year while visiting her aunt. They were completely smitten with each other and Beth says that God was a very real part of thier relationship. Her husband, we will call him Mr. Man, was already in the army and knew that he would be going to Japan for a while and then off to Iraq. They dated for about 2 weeks before he left for Japan and continued to talk online and through letters. Mr. Man actually proposed online to Beth after 3 months of dating and they decided to get married when he came home for Christmas. That is when things started going downhill. Beth sought after God for confirmation on this fast moving relationship. She was in the middle of school, planning a wedding and finding a new home. She and Mr. Man began to fight and eventually she went to a counselor. That seemed to help and they decided that Christmas was the right time. They planned a small ceremony with only the immediate family present and then a larger reception. Let me also say that Beth became extremely close to Mr. Man's family while he was gone to Japan...she called them constantly, stayed the night at thier home and fit right in. Anyways, they went on a cruise for thier honeymoon and then spent 2 more weeks together before he had to go back to Japan. Beth planned to go spend 3 weeks with her new husband before he got shipped to Iraq. She flew to Japan by herself and everything went downhill. When she got there she learned of some strongholds that her husband had not yet dealt with. She was also told that she was not good enough for him and not what he wanted anymore. They spent the whole time in Japan arguing and he threatened to divorce her several times. Beth came back to the states very depressed and not knowing what was going to happen next. Since then she has not talked to her husband...this was back in April. He was shipped to Iraq and has refused to talk to her. He changed his status on facebook to single, took away all the pictures of them together and got started on a divorce. His family backs his decision to divorce-beth says that in his family its not a big deal and there isn't a lot of couples still on thier first marriage for him to look to as an example. She has begged with her in laws to talk to her, to accept her apologies, to think of her as family still. She has tried to contact Mr. Man and has had no luck. She has been going to a doctor and was diagnosed as being "biploar" and depressed. She told me that she doesn't eat, can't sleep and spends every waking moment reading books on How to pray for your husband, How to have a Godly marriage, How to be a better person. She is trying so hard to become a wife that someone would want (even though she knows that perfection does not exist). Yesterday when she got home from being with family for the weekend she was greeted by the divorce papers. Her husband has given his mother power of attorney and she has signed them. Now Beth has to decide whether or not to sign them or to hold out. Mr. Man will not be back until November so nothing will be finalized til then. It breaks my heart to hear her talk about all of this. She is 21 and way to young (in my mind) to be dealing with this. During our conversation I told her how sorry I was for not keeping up with her as much as I should have, I just couldn't seem to find words. She turned it right around and said that she was also sorry for not keeping up with our friendship but it was hard for her to think about me and adam. She told me that she was jealous of our relationship, that we were the ideal couple and lately when her mom would mention me she would have to ask her to refrain. This made me realize two things. A- I really do have a great husband, one who is willing to work things out with me and who has his eyes set on Heaven. B- That like my friend I need to be willing to be more transparent with my life. I told her that yes, Adam and I are happy, but also that we are far from perfect and not worthy of idealizing. Of course we post fun pictures and good things b/c I personally do not wish to showcase our arguments or rough days. However, when I said that her response was that she "wanted people to know and witness someone worshipping and glorifying God through a horrible time in thier life". Isn't that awesome? If we were all a little more honest with each other I think we would all be better able to lift one another up and stay accountable. I beg of you to pray for my friend Beth. She is truly seeking God's will out and knows that He still has great big plans for her future. She is an open book and is inspiring to talk too. Please pray for her husband as well. Pray that his heart would be softened to God and that his families past would not influence his future. This is such a great oppurtunity for God to show his power in both of thier lives and for anyone who is watching them.