Manuel Largaespada / Bethany Beachum
Beginning to build a second relationship after bad experiences with a first one is a task double in difficulty – but not impossible. Noel and Adilia are proving it can be done with their marriage.
Four years ago, Adilia was single with two children when she first met Noel. They fell in love and decided to marry. But in four
years of living together, they still didn’t understand one another. ”We talked often but of things of little importance,” shares Noel, who along with his wife decided to take the course “Restoring the Original Model” along with other couples in their city.
Noel and Adilia shared with us some lessons they have learned with the help of this course and the mentorship of Pastors Marcelo and Clorinda. “The exercise of writing down our personal characteristics and then talking about them helped us to understand our differences, to understand each other better, and to make changes,” expressed Noel.
We asked the couple, “And what has been the most significant change in your relationship in these past few months?” Noel responded, “The most important change is that now we set aside time to be together and talk
more because we saw how that helps us resolve problems and live in more peace.”
But Adilia carried the conversation further and a little more facetious by responding, “Pastor Clorinda, our mentor, brought up the topic of sexuality. She talked to us about practical things, like the importance that personal hygiene and cleanliness plays in not “killing the flame” of sexuality. She even said to us, ‘You can’t have a good sexual relationship with smelly feet!’” At this, Adilia collapsed in laughter over her comment.
This couple, along with 10 others, recently organized a party in the lush natural reserve of Tisey-Estanzuela, on the outskirts of the city of Estelí. The party was held to celebrate everyone’s completion of all lessons and exercises in the manual “Restoring the Original Model,” developed by the Nehemiah Center.
The Nehemiah Center hopes that holistic transformation will grow in local churches and reach other couples in the community. Pastors Clorinda and Marcelo Morán are being trained by the Families program and are training another couple who are leaders in their community so that their example and counsel can also be of benefit to many others.
“Dialogue is to love as blood is to the body…”
Reuel Howe