Article April 27, 2009 ISSUE

MY ROAD TO RESTORATION

BY SONETTE TIPPENS

A few years ago I felt mired in decisions that were changing the course of my life. But through prayer and increased reliance on God, I began to see a continuity of good.

After more than three decades of marriage, my husband announced he was filing for divorce. My first reactions were fear, shock, rage, and panic. Although we'd suffered various difficulties in our marriage, and I did think from time to time it might come to this, I knew deep down that my husband was a good man, and we'd built a life together based on common interests and shared values.

I was 58 years old at the time and had taken early retirement from a job I loved in order to travel with my husband, believing that our combined pensions and savings would easily permit this new lifestyle. Our home was fully paid for, and I'd thought that we were ready to reap the benefits of a lifetime of hard work and wise saving. But now, faced with divorce, I felt that this turn of events was going to leave me in financial ruin. It seemed that retiring early had been a mistake.