Joe Theismann

Quarterback cum ESPN commentator Joe Theismann, allegedly explaining to his soon-to-be-ex-second wife why he had an affair: “God wants Joe Theismann to be happy.”

Source unknown


Marla Maples

At the height of her fame as the other woman in the Ivana and Donald Trump breakup, Marla Maples spoke of her religious roots. She believed in the Bible, she told interviewers, then added the disclaimer, “but you can’t always take [it] literally and be happy.”

C. Colson, The Body, p. 124

rlt,

My W actually asked me, "Don't you think God wants me to be happy?" after I told her that God never condones adultery in any form and in fact bans it totally in one of the Ten Commandments.

It took me a full minute to reply, "Don't you think God wants you to be faithful?" without laughing.

I have found this to be true when dealing with people who have had a strong Christian background and not only as it relates to adultery. They justify something that is clearly wrong and antithetical to scripture by saying "I've prayed about this and I feel God is telling me I am right..."

Ah, I think God wants you to do what He says you should do...It isn't multiple choice.

Mark

rlt-

I noticed your footer. Congrats on your recovery. Did you do any Plan A or Plan B work to get to that point?

Mark,

Yesterday in counseling, our MC said something to the effect that we should be grateful for this crisis because it has changed us both, not the least of which has been our new found Christianity.

During A time, we had started going to a Unity Church (uggh, I know, but it was our beginning). Anyway, I will never forget Mr. Rlt telling me that "God" was telling him to leave us. Thank God, literally, that he has turned 180 degrees from that nonsense, and now truly believes that Satan had his hand the whole time.

The affair, for us, has been a double-edged sword. In one way, horrific, and in another way, a very strange blessing. I just wish God would have found a different way, but that's wasn't my choice.

Re, the spiritual journey: I quickly found Unity to be (I'll be nice here) not for us. We then went to Catholic Church for awhile (church of origin for both of us). Then we happened upon a bible church, and have been going there ever since.

Knitgirl,

I found MB about six weeks after finding out about the A. Prior to that I had been doing a Plan A without even knowing it, I believe. Mr. RLT put us into something of a Plan B with his trip to FL.

When he came home, I tried to Plan A, but admittedly, did sort of a half a$$ job of it. Seven months later, he left for three days. But what changed in that short time was my attitude. I let him go. I put him in God's hands. He came back three days later, literally transformed. We still have ups and downs, of course. We both have nasty patterns that we have developed in our 25 plus years together. He still sometimes falls back into old entitlements (FOO issues). But all in all, he's working on it everyday, and so am I.

So, about seven months of Plan A, a very short Plan B. Hope that helps you.

rlt,

When I first checked into the hospital this winter various friends told me that I should try to see what God was teaching me through all of it.

My first reaction was that I would find out who had prayed that I learn patience...

...and I would return the favor.

But God did teach me a lot of things, many of them about healing and what it actually takes to be healed, not the least of which is that we have to actually want to be healed more than we want to have our own way.

I also learned that what is required in order to heal completely sometimes itself causes us to be wounded.

He also taught me that we don't always need to know the cause to begin healing (I sure don't want to do THAT again, whatever it was.)

And not least of what I learned is that healing takes a lot longer than we thought it would sometimes.

I'm actually going to be preaching on healing next month while our pastor is on vacation.

He's still teaching me new things daily...

Mark

Thanks, that did help. I guess those of us who haven't done the Plan B thing yet worry that we're sending our WS back to the waiting arms of the OP (in my case, she is single so that scares me), but maybe it's the "letting go" aspect of the plan that has the right effect.