Written by Shawn LaVie

I’d like to share my experience in the hope the Lord will work through me to give hope and to help Christian youth who may be in a similar situation as myself. As my title suggests, I’m not ashamed of the reality that my parents divorced when I was 24, and I’m still not ashamed at the age of 36.  

 When my parents divorced, all the happy memories that led up to that moment felt fractured and broken. I could no longer look at those memories without feeling pain. It almost felt as if the well had been poisoned. I had to slowly learn how not to identify those memories with the divorce, and learn that my identity and all my memories belong to Christ.  

 I did not divorce my parents, but for a time I lived my life as if I was part of the divorce.  

 If you are feeling similar feelings, remember your healing process will be found through Christ alone. It also helped me to discover the unbreakable bond in marriage between myself and Jesus Christ. It is through this bond that I am able to find comfort and peace within the painful experience of living through parental divorce.  

 I’m also able to use the experience to strengthen my own marriage, and I am actually grateful for that. 

 If you are in a similar situation, I know that it may be hard to believe anything positive can come from your pain, but I implore you to stay strong and know that you are not alone. As a Christian, you are bound in love and married to the Creator of the universe.