March, 2000

Tom and Patty's testimony first appeared in Covenant Comments in December 1993. The September 1999 newsletter featured an article written by Tom that updates their situation and tells how God is continuing to restore their marriage. You can find more information about Tom and Patty on the Internet at SIRTHOMAS@COMCAST.NET

TOM: My mother raised me. My parents didn't divorce, but they were separated. When I was just a little kid my father would come home from work drunk and beat up on me. My mother decided to pull up stakes, and she took me with her. I felt like my father rejected me. I got into drugs, alcohol and sex, everything. I tried transcendental meditation and that's worse than drugs because there's an open door to demonic activity.

I had just started working at the post office. A Methodist minister came in every other day for eight months and told me I had to get saved and that Jesus loved me and died for my sins. He told me, "If you ever get in a life or death situation, just call on the name of Jesus and He will save you." I went to sleep one night, fell into a trance, and stopped breathing. I called out Jesus name and right then popped up in bed and got my air back. I went to see the minister and he said, "Satan tried to kill you." I replied, "There's no Satan." He urged, "Let's pray if you want to get saved," and I answered, "Yeah, I'm kind of scared, let's do that." I accepted Jesus then but denied Satan's existence. I met Patty at a party. We dated for a while and I led her to the Lord.

PATTY: We started walking with the Lord and knew in a short time that we were supposed to get married. We went to a great Baptist Church and God caused us to grow there. Some of our problems really began then because we didn't understand spiritual warfare. Tom was a deacon, and he experienced some disappointments. We had no knowledge against whom we battled. It was an assignment against that church. We realized that we had problems, but the pastor's wife left him in six months, and we found out that the same thing had happened to the pastor before him.

TOM: After I left that church, some type of spirit latched onto me; I believe it was the spirit of lust. I had gotten rid of all the drugs and other stuff, but I never developed a close relationship with Jesus. I didn't know the power of prayer. Now I do. I left Patty to pursue greener pastures. I had a wife but had to get away from her. I was reduced to moving back in with my mother. To make matters worse, my father came to live with Patty because I had told him that I would always take care of him. Everything was mixed up; nothing was right.

PATTY: What I found out was that the enemy takes captive prodigal husbands' minds. Now that we can talk about it, we know that Tom didn't realize many things: where he was, what was happening, what he was doing to me. It was the lie, "I'm not in love with you any more. I still love you, but I'm not in love with you. I made a mistake when I married you."

What hurt me was that we had told our families that we were Christians, and now our marriage was ending. Feeling heartache and rejection, I thought, "I'll leave, and he'll miss me." You know how you think that in your flesh and emotions. Immediately, the Lord spoke to me through Corinthians, "…a wife must not leave her husband, if she does she must remain single or be reconciled." "Okay, Lord, you're telling me not to leave and to stay single or be reconciled. Well, I'm married and I want to stay married.

I thank the Lord for that foundation because that was a firm place to stand at times when I heard opposition to our marriage, to what God was doing, when I received divorce papers, or any of those things. I knew what God had spoken to me, and I knew that if He said it, there was a way I could do it.

TOM: I was calloused and hard-hearted, but I was still a born-again Christian with the love of God in me; I still knew what God wanted for me. I tried to divorce Patty twice, (I still don't know what happened there!), and I didn't know what was going on. All the people in the Covenant Keepers group were praying for me; I thought if I put up thick enough walls I wouldn't even have to let God in. Even though you are a born-again Christian these things can happen; just because you're saved doesn't mean that your will is in the right place.

I had lost myself; I didn't know who I was anymore. I would come home from drinking; lay my head on the pillow, and the Lord would start talking to me and not stop. He said things like, "Why are you doing this to me, don't you know that I love you, don't you know that my hand has been upon you all this time, that I have protected you and watched over you? I've got so many things for you; I've got treasures that you'll never have if you don't come back to me."

PATTY: I didn't see Tom often. I had to trust the Lord; He had to speak to me about what was going on.

A lot of you may have contact with your spouse, and it's not fun. You have to deal with your emotional ups and downs. Sometimes it is difficult to see with spiritual eyes when you look at everything with your natural eyes. Be encouraged; God really knows what is going on in your spouse's heart. He knows the motivation for why they do what they do. The Lord spoke to me many times through the scripture, showing me what healing Tom needed. With Tom, I knew that what I could see didn't really show where his heart was. The Lord knew that Tom loved being outdoors, so I would say, "Lord, your creation declares your glory, so anywhere Tom looks, he sees You."

TOM: I used to watch nature films. I saw all the wonderful things of nature and thought, "God, you did that." And that's what Patty was praying. She also prayed that I would take up music again.

PATTY: The Lord gave me Psalm 150, which talks about all the instruments praising Him. Tom played the guitar. God knows exactly what has to happen; He has an appointed time and knows the progression of things; for everything, there is a season. He knows what a man sows and what he will reap.

TOM: I felt God calling me, and I was trying to get away from the world. I knew that if I was going to go back to God that there was no way I could stay separated from Patty. Imagine being a born-again Christian serving God, and someone asks you, "Where is your wife?" So I told God, "I’ll come back to You, but You will have to make things happen on the other end (with Patty)." I called her and told her that I thought I was ready to come home.

PATTY: I knew that he wasn't coming home because he loved me but because he wanted to be obedient to God, and that set me free—it really gave me a lot of liberty. I was still dealing with the emotions, but there wasn't a weight on me.

TOM: We are still in the midst of healing. You can be reconciled to each other, but it takes a while to be healed. God really did work a miracle in me, and the reason it took place was because I had a genuine love for and fear of God.

I didn't know Patty was standing. I just thought she was crazy for waiting around for me. The single most important thing was Patty's love for Father God and Jesus; from that came her love for me; she wanted the best for me even though I dumped on her. Another critical element was prayer; people I didn't know really cared for me.

Now I'm playing in a band—the worship band at church. I didn't ask them, they asked me. Glory to glory, I'm just going to go on and on and see what He's got for me.

PATTY: If I hadn't been obedient, then I wouldn't have been blessed in such an incredible way. I could have gone on and on in a different direction; God's mercy could have been there for me, but I would not be the person I am today. I knew that if I never saw the evidence on this earth, that I had obeyed my Lord. He had taken care of me better than any person could; no other man could have ever healed me the way He has healed me and is healing me. No one could have provided for me the way that He has provided for me. I wouldn't have the joy that I have now. I know that he blessed me.

I have no doubt that if you are standing on His Word and you are standing in His will that He will answer your prayer. It's not the result of Tom coming home; it's a result of God's faithfulness. It's just amazing, this year we went to Tulsa for the Reunion (Covenant Keepers' annual conference). Last year, Tom's attitude was, "Are you going to Tulsa every year?!" Now he wouldn't miss the conference; he's a Tulsa fanatic. I think he talked to more people than I did.

My pastor believes that if God says your mate is going to come home, you can stand for your marriage. He agrees with what happened here; he can't deny it. Tom and I stand as a testimony to God's power and shows that nothing is impossible to Him. People can't deny that, and they also cannot challenge the fact that, even though Tom was not home with me, I had peace and God blessed me.

Noah's Rainy Day Check-List
By Gerry Hiebert
Canadian National Director

Expect the unexpected
There was no rain forecast when Noah started construction. In fact, there’d never been any rain before, ever!

Don’t listen to critics
Listen to God and do what He says. Neighbors may have ridiculed Noah, but he who laughs last...

Stay fit
Stay fit (spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically). You never know but that when you are 600 years old, someone might come along out of the blue and ask you to do something really big!

Don’t try to go it alone
Always travel in pairs because two prayers are better than one.

It’s not about your ability
Remember that amateurs built the ark while professionals built the Titanic.

You’re just along for the ride
God’s blueprint for the ark didn’t include a steering wheel for Noah.

Know your shipmate!
Don’t forget this enduring truth, you’re never in the boat alone.

Fastest isn’t always best
Cheetahs and snails were both aboard the ark and both arrived on dry ground at the same time.

Fear is just "False Evidence Acting Real"
The woodpeckers on the inside can be a greater threat than the storm on the outside.

Your ship will come in
No matter how bleak things look, when God’s your captain there’s always going to be a rainbow of peace (covenant token) at journey’s end.

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