Posts tagged covenant
Tim and Stephanie Broersma and a Marriage Reclaimed After Marital Betrayal

Tim and Stephanie share the process they went through after Tim confessed to multiple affairs and to a 10-year pornography addiction which took them both on a journey to restoration as they determined to do the hard work and fight for their marriage because the prospect of the alternative was harder to bear than going through the uncomfortable middle.

On the other side, they have found beauty truly does rise from the ashes when we find our life and/or marriage has caught fire. Walk with them through the rubble as they share their testimony and the ministry God birthed in Stephanie as she coped with the pain, the devastation of grappling with marital betrayal.

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Rick and Aviana Valadez on Coming Forth As Gold in Marriage, Blended Families and in Ministry

Aviana and Rick Valadez go into their marriage story and how Jesus saved and redeemed their lives. From head knowledge to a loving relationship with their Savior, from redemption from a gambling and drinking past and a compromised relationship, Rick and Aviana share the similarities in their stories is that they prayed to receive Christ into their lives yet it didn’t fully change their life until God took them to the end of themselves.

They also share how they allow Him to steer their blended family and how He led their family to street evangelism through their two boys and the journey from sharing Christ with total strangers on Friday nights to God preparing them for full-time missions.

They have a beautiful testimony and are sold out for the cause of Christ and honor Him with their whole lives.

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Marriage and Redefining Our Identity with Zack and Daniella Peck

Episode 15 was recorded in Brooklyn, New York. I sat down with Zack and Daniella Peck who drove all the way from New Jersey to record for the podcast.

Zack works with the youth at their church. Zack says he was working for the church for about a year before he was actually saved. It’s not about how well we do the “church” things, we can pretend all day long to be one person but God is not fooled. God wants our heart and through their testimony, we see just how patient, how loving and how kind our Father is with us. He patiently pursues our hearts and helps us work through our emotions and helps us process through them to get to the root of our heart hang-ups.

Daniella shares she grew up Catholic. She knew of God, believed in Him but it was always more about the rituals and had never opened up God’s Word for herself. Becoming a Christian was an easier transition as being raised Catholic meant believing in the same God but it became a more intimate, personal relationship with Him, knowing Jesus as God.

This episode would be great to share with a middle school or high school-aged person in your life as Daniella and Zack go into a lot of what the Lord spoke to them in their early relationship and how He called them to process through a lot of the hurt that stemmed from an immature, young “romance” and how He redefined and redeemed a lot of the idols, including each other, they had made.

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Chelsey and Corey DeMatteis on Putting Our Pasts to Death & Making Room for New Life in Marriage

Chelsey and Corey are honest that there are differences in their marriage, in some ways they are the total opposites yet at the same time complementary. God handpicked the two of them to be together. They open about the tougher seasons they’ve walked through even more recently together, and that they’re still working through.
Chelsey also shares bringing up the past has to die. There is just no room for it anymore. A tree can’t bear new fruit if you don’t cut away the dead. She shared her greatest desire for their marriage in this season is having fun together, pure God gifted joy.  All this and more in this month’s testimony behind the matrimony.

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Melissa and Bart and Keeping Your Eyes on Christ in All Seasons

Melissa and Bart Hamada have been married 13 years. Diving right in, we are talking about one of the most trying things they’ve walked through together in marriage, infertility. Have we idolized certain milestones in our life and in the church? How often do we not even think as we are asking certain questions? Never really fully knowing what someone may be walking through.

“I’ve found I’ve personally struggled with where you feel ‘What about me is broken?’ Or why is it that I’m not good enough to be a mom? There’ve been those seasons that I allow myself to question those things, and in light of truth found in Scripture, I know that God is sovereign and I know He’s in control. He’s redeemed me and my body, my marriage. I know He’s not withholding anything good.”

In the midst of this holiday/Christmas season, when the pain of loss may be felt more strongly or another year has passed and the promise you felt God would be sure to answer this year hasn’t happened, it’s a comfort to know we can still find joy and peace in a relationship with Jesus. Melissa and Bart share their joy and peace come from Jesus Christ in the midst of walking through the varying seasons that have come with infertility and that they trust in His good plan.

All this and more on episode 12!

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Vanessa and Rehgert on Life and Marriage in South Africa and the Father's Heart

In episode 10, we hear from Vanessa and Rehgert VanZyl, recorded live from the sleepy, surf town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa (Jeffrey's Bay).

Rehgert is a South African native (born and raised) and knew he had a unique upbringing in that he had a stable home life, parents still married and found Jesus early on. He wanted to share the hope found in Christ with the youth in his neighborhood and end the stigma of what you look like and break the generational sins which plague so many families in his community. From this, Aleph Surf International was created to meet the youth right where they're at.

Vanessa has a background in the apparel manufacturing world which led her to live in Eastern Africa (Uganda) for a few years prior to meeting Rehgert. The way God crossed their paths is truly divine and something only He could do! Truly supernatural touches that were so evidently from the Sovereign hand of the Father, who cares so much about the details of our lives!

Rehgert and Vanessa’s faith and ministry encouraged me to keep serving, to keep loving even when breakthrough isn’t being seen. Will we trust the Father’s at work when we don’t see tangible fruit? Will we serve Him even still? Will we be ready for Him when He comes back for His bride? All that and so much more in this tenth episode!

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