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Over a couple of years, they got to know each other and began dating. After high school graduation, on Christmas Eve, 1960, Terry proposed. He entered the Army and returned for their Thanksgiving Day wedding on November 23, 1961.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within the first two years of their marriage, they bought their first home, and their children Karen and Kevin were born. Joanne was a stay-at-home mom, while Terry led a full life outside the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought I had it all: a loving wife, two beautiful children, a job I loved as a pipe fitter, and I was still playing sports\u2014semi-pro football, baseball, and basketball\u2014all while serving as a pipe fitter apprentice. I was also going to school three nights a week. For five years, it was all about me,\u201d said Terry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joanne said, \u201cI knew our perfect family was slowly falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terry never sugarcoats his early way of life. \u201cUnfortunately, I was a member of the ADU Club: alcohol, drugs, and unfaithfulness. Fortunately, I\u2019m proud of where I came from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can\u2019t come \u201cfrom\u201d a place or thing without going \u201cto\u201d another. It\u2019s where they were both led that gives them their testimony today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI knew Terry loved me, and I always forgave him every time he asked for forgiveness and promised to do better. Things would go smoothly for a while with him but always go back to the same thing,\u201d Joanne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The summer of 1974 found her growing tired of the cycle, and a 10-day visit to former neighbors in their new Texas home gave Terry and Joanne an idea of how life apart from the other might feel. Joanne imagined a fresh start for her and the children in Texas while Terry felt the weight of their absence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their Baltimore neighbors kept inviting Joanne to church. Although she\u2019d attended church before their marriage, Joanne says she didn\u2019t have a relationship with Jesus. She accepted their invitation to church on January 19, 1975, and following a message that spoke directly to the details of her life, she accepted another invitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joanne said, \u201cI thought they\u2019d told the preacher all about my life. Of course, I know now that the Holy Spirit was speaking to my spirit. When the preacher finished, I ran to the altar and turned my life over to the Lord. It was the best day of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A less than covert operation set an army of prayer into motion over Terry\u2019s life. The church prayer list clinging to the refrigerator requested prayer for Joanne\u2019s husband, and Kevin made sure the coffee table held stacks of religious tracts for Terry to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d read the tracts and restack them the same way they were so Kevin would never know they\u2019d been read. I listened to sermons and music by Jimmy Swaggart. Even at snack, I couldn\u2019t get away from the conviction of the Holy Spirit,\u201d Terry said. \u201cThen, on our 14th anniversary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joanne asked me to go to church with her, and I thought I\u2019d save money on a gift and go to church as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joanne was surprised when he offered to go to Sunday school. \u201cI thought to myself, \u2018Wow, Lord, I didn\u2019t ask for Sunday school, too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Joanne had, Terry felt the preacher knew all the details of his life, but Joanne had only asked them to pray that he\u2019d be saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI went to church to get Joanne off my back. The preacher pointed straight at me, and when the altar call was open, I was broken and convicted and went to the altar from our seat in the back of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve never sat in the back of the church since,\u201d Terry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About two years later, a couple having marital problems contacted them and asked if they\u2019d counsel them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Terry said, \u201cWe sat down, and that\u2019s where we were first introduced to counseling. We still do that together and love doing it and seeing changes in people\u2019s lives. But it\u2019s not because of us; it\u2019s because of God. We\u2019re certainly not professionals, but we tell people from the beginning we\u2019re just going to share what the Word says and our testimony. We\u2019re transparent. There\u2019s nothing we don\u2019t share if they ask.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most likely question is to Joanne: How could she forgive what Terry had done early in their marriage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Lord gave me this illustration. You cut the tip of your finger, and it really hurts. As it heals, a scab forms and falls off, and it hurts all over again. But when it heals from within, all you have is the scar\u2014no pain. God allows us to remember the hurt to share with others, but there is no more pain,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Terry said, \u201cJoanne and I have always been in love. We\u2019ve had more than 60 years of good days, bad days, good times, and bad times. But most importantly, [we\u2019ve had] more than 60 years of love, growth, and maturity together. Joanne is loving, kind, compassionate, caring, tenderhearted, and selfless, always preferring others. I hope I can and will be all that my best friend wants and deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joanne finishes, \u201cGod doesn\u2019t waste a hurt, and He has used our testimony to share with others that there isn\u2019t any marriage He can\u2019t restore. Our prayer each day is: \u2018Make us a blessing and allow us to be usable.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a story of forgiveness and redemption as old as The Gospel, and Terry and Joanne are a living reflection of God\u2019s love for us. GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Joanne and Terry Theis say that God has used their testimony to share with others that there isn\u2019t any marriage He can\u2019t restore. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-9859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover","tag-january"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC_2931-1024x683.jpg\")
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