Latest / Anchored by the Sword / You Are Not Alone: Finding Healing, Hope, and Freedom Through Courageous Divorce with Alisha Roth!
Transcript
- 0:00Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Anchor by the
- 0:02Sword podcast. I pray that today's episode will
- 0:05leave you encouraged and also challenged in your faith.
- 0:08And I pray that. You would take the stories.
- 0:12That are talked about here today and share them with other
- 0:16people. Thank you so much for joining me
- 0:19and enjoy today's episode. Hey guys, welcome to this
- 0:23episode, the Anchor by the Sore podcast.
- 0:25I am super excited today to introduce you guys to Alicia
- 0:28Roth. She has a book that comes out
- 0:31this coming Tuesday called Courageous Divorce and a
- 0:34Christian Woman's Guide to Healing, Rebuilding and
- 0:38Embracing an Abundant Life. So I'm looking forward to
- 0:41talking with her, learning more about her story and just all of
- 0:44the things. So, Alicia, thank you for coming
- 0:46today. Thanks, Gina.
- 0:48I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
- 0:51Absolutely. Can you start by telling my
- 0:52listeners a little bit about yourself?
- 0:55Yeah, for sure. I am a mother to five daughters
- 1:00and 1 stepson and I was married before I went through a divorce
- 1:05and now I am remarried and we have a blended family.
- 1:10I am a writer and an editor and I also homeschool some of my
- 1:15children, so that keeps me very busy as well.
- 1:18That's awesome, 5 girls, what are their ages?
- 1:21My oldest is almost 15 and then my youngest just turned 2 so
- 1:26there's a pretty big age range and it's it's fun but keeps me
- 1:31very busy. Yeah, absolutely.
- 1:34I have 5 nephews and they range from 13 to 24.
- 1:39Oh, that's so fun. I remember how it would it how
- 1:42it was when they were all younger.
- 1:44They weren't with me 24/7 but I remember what it was like.
- 1:47I can't imagine 5 girls. Yeah, yeah.
- 1:50You know, even when they're all different, there is something
- 1:52that's really fun about having all the same gender.
- 1:56And even though there are days where I'm very exhausted, I love
- 2:00it. And I wouldn't have any other
- 2:01way. I love that.
- 2:04So let's talk about your personal freedom story.
- 2:07Yeah, so I grew up in the church.
- 2:11I grew up as a Christian and I was the kind of kid who just was
- 2:16sold out for God. And I read my Bible through an
- 2:19elementary school. I wanted to always do the right
- 2:23thing. And I often was like the golden
- 2:26child. I was the the one who was picked
- 2:29to lead in youth group. And I went on some mission trips
- 2:33and I really, really loved all of those things.
- 2:38And I think from a young age, I just had this deep desire to
- 2:42know the divine and to be connected to the Holy Spirit.
- 2:47And I, I'm so thankful for that. I think it was a gift to have
- 2:53such a strong desire for that as a young girl.
- 2:57Obviously, I was also shaped by the church that I grew up in and
- 3:01the family I grew up in, and I did.
- 3:04I grew up in a particular type of Christianity and when I went
- 3:12to college, I chose to go to Christian college and I had a
- 3:15great experience there. My experience open my eyes to
- 3:20realizing that there are different ways that Christians
- 3:24believe. And in some of these areas where
- 3:27I was like, oh, this is the only way that like end times can
- 3:30look. You can just have my eyes open
- 3:33to like, wow. Like there are people that
- 3:34really, really love God that see this differently.
- 3:37And I see that as a really pivotal point in my faith
- 3:40journey because it allowed me to be more curious with my faith
- 3:48and to recognize that Christians throughout millennia have been
- 3:54searching for who exactly God is and reading scriptures and
- 4:00sometimes seeing them differently.
- 4:03I got married very young. I was 20.
- 4:05I was a kind of girl that just like wanted to have a family and
- 4:10wanted to live for God. We were going to do mission
- 4:14work. And so we did some training for
- 4:18that, spent a month in Papua New Guinea with some of our
- 4:22missionary friends. And all of those things were
- 4:24really life changing for me. But I still was just like trying
- 4:30to just be a really good person and just do all the right
- 4:35things. And a number of things happened.
- 4:39And one of the biggest things that happened was shortly after
- 4:41we had our first daughter, my ex-husband and I, I learned
- 4:47something about his past that had happened before we were
- 4:50married. But while we were dating, that
- 4:54was a really big deal. It it harmed another person.
- 4:57It impacted me and I had no idea of how to deal with it.
- 5:03I was told that to be a Good Wife, you just always talk good
- 5:08about your husband and you just pray really hard for him and
- 5:10everything will be fine. So that's what I did.
- 5:13I just prayed really hard and I decided I was going to forgive
- 5:15him. And, but I, I never actually
- 5:19dealt with how it impacted me. And so then the years went on
- 5:24and we had more daughters and I actually made a choice a couple
- 5:30years after I learned that where I had an affair for seven
- 5:35months. And that was the first time I
- 5:37had ever done anything that was not like perfect, you know, it
- 5:41was not like being really good. And I had a lot of shame around
- 5:45that. I confessed it.
- 5:47And I also see that as a very important point in my faith
- 5:50journey because it helped me realize like, oh, I am really
- 5:53capable of hurt, hurting others as well and of not following
- 5:57God. But the issue was, was after
- 5:59that I was like, Oh, I just need to be really good again.
- 6:01And again, I didn't actually deal with like the root of that.
- 6:05And, and the thing, my ex-husband and I had a lot of
- 6:09roots that were not healthy. And so the things that had
- 6:13happened before our marriage that I didn't know, some lying
- 6:15that happened, things that he had lied to me about.
- 6:19And and then we had this new her in it that we weren't dealing
- 6:23with. And then after we've been
- 6:25married for 12 years, I was in my 30s, I decided I was going to
- 6:29start dealing with these things. I was just tired of our
- 6:32marriage, like being so unhealthy.
- 6:35And I was tired of not being really honest about life.
- 6:41And so I began having conversations with my husband at
- 6:46that point and sharing the things that I thought were
- 6:49unhealthy, the things that we needed to work on.
- 6:52And at that point, he started to sexually abuse me in my sleep.
- 6:59And it was really, really hard for me to know what to do.
- 7:02I have some some Christians that were in my life at that point
- 7:07that thought a husband has a right to his wife's body.
- 7:10And so I had those ideas in my head where I was like, maybe he
- 7:14is allowed to do this even though it doesn't feel right to
- 7:16me. And it feels like really
- 7:17hurtful. And especially because I
- 7:19confronted him about it and said like, I wasn't OK with this and
- 7:23he said he wouldn't do it again. And then it kept happening.
- 7:26So I started seeing a therapist at this point.
- 7:28And the, the thing that was really, really important in
- 7:32therapy was that my therapist named it as abuse.
- 7:36And it was really hard for me up to that point to actually see it
- 7:40as that. I didn't recognize that like I
- 7:43had a right to, to ask for things to not be done to my body
- 7:47and, and to be listened to you. The thing that was tricky then
- 7:51is then I decided I need to separate so that I can sleep at
- 7:53night. I don't have to worry about
- 7:54stuff happening to me. But at that point, I needed to
- 7:58decide what I was going to do. And I had always been told like,
- 8:02divorce is wrong, it's a sin. Like if you really love God,
- 8:06you're going to just like forgive forever and you will
- 8:10just keep trusting that, like God is going to make everything
- 8:13better. And I have an incredibly hopeful
- 8:16person. So there was a part of me that's
- 8:18like, like, am I giving up hope if I get a divorce?
- 8:23And I don't want to be giving up hope.
- 8:24Like I always believe somebody can change.
- 8:29But through my counselling and through Seeking God and through
- 8:34conversations that I was having with my ex-husband through this
- 8:37whole thing while we were still married at that point, I
- 8:40realized that he didn't see his actions as abuse.
- 8:45And and that we had so many years now of this damage that
- 8:50things weren't going to change. And I needed to choose what was
- 8:55healthy and best for myself and also my daughters because
- 8:59because we had four daughters together.
- 9:01And one of the things that I thought of was like, what if my
- 9:04daughter's came to me and, and they were going through this,
- 9:07like, how would I advise them? And I knew immediately that I
- 9:12would advise them to choose their health and to choose their
- 9:14wholeness and, and I wouldn't question whether God would still
- 9:20love them for choosing that. And that helped me to make my
- 9:23choice. And I had so many years still at
- 9:27that point of like theology that said like divorce is always
- 9:30wrong. And I had a lot.
- 9:31I had to undo a lot of that. And so it took time.
- 9:35But as I worked through that, as I was going through my divorce
- 9:39and then after my divorce, I found so much freedom in God and
- 9:44I felt like I was finally able to really discover God for
- 9:50myself. And he shows us through Jesus so
- 9:52clearly. But throughout the Bible, we
- 9:54just see God wants people to live the abundant life.
- 9:57God wants people to experience wholeness.
- 10:01And there is a sadness that comes with living on this earth
- 10:06where relationships do become broken and some of our desires
- 10:11are not fulfilled. Like ultimately my desire was
- 10:14for that fairy tale marriage, for everything.
- 10:17It'd be beautiful. And there is grief in that.
- 10:19And recognizing that like on this earth, everything will not
- 10:22be perfect, but also God can renew our lives.
- 10:27And through my divorce, even though there was a lot of
- 10:29brokenness, I found so much beauty and I felt God through
- 10:36every step of the way. And I feel like when I went
- 10:39through the divorce, I felt like everything was so dark, but
- 10:41there was this tiny light that I could see off in the distance.
- 10:45And it just felt like God like guiding me forward, like I will
- 10:50find happiness and wholeness again.
- 10:52And I really have. That's amazing.
- 10:56Thank you so much for sharing your story.
- 10:59Like we were talking about prior to starting today, there's so
- 11:04many people that we know, we being listeners and church
- 11:10women, Christian women that have gone through divorce and have
- 11:16had to battle through the stigma of divorce in the Christian
- 11:22world because unfortunately they there is one, especially amongst
- 11:29like different generations. We'll just put it that way in
- 11:32the church where it's where it's like, OK, well, you just
- 11:36whatever happens, it's allowed and it's fine and you know, move
- 11:40along with life. And it's like, no, it's actually
- 11:44not because I walked with a friend through divorce.
- 11:47This was several years ago because she's since remarried as
- 11:50well. And some of the things that she
- 11:53walked through, I didn't know and I knew both of them and I
- 11:56had no idea. But I also hadn't seen her in a
- 11:58long time. So I didn't know all the things
- 12:00that were going on with her prior to the divorce filing.
- 12:04And you know, it's, it was so sad.
- 12:08But you know, she, she knows that God still loves her.
- 12:13God still loves him. They just were choosing
- 12:16different paths and the path they were going together was not
- 12:18healthy. Yeah, yeah, I think you make a
- 12:23really good point there about it's so hard to know what is
- 12:26really going on in other people's marriages.
- 12:28And a lot of people didn't know what was going on in mine
- 12:32because I was trying to make it look like it all was good.
- 12:37And some of that was because I thought that was my duty as a
- 12:40Christian wife to like, always speak of good of my husband and
- 12:45to, you know, just praying really hard and, and make sure
- 12:48everything was good. And it wasn't because I wanted
- 12:51to be fake. It was because I really wanted
- 12:54to be a godly woman. And, and, and I think that that
- 12:58is one of the reasons that women do it.
- 13:00And sometimes it's because they're afraid to share.
- 13:04They're afraid, you know, it might or turmoil in their
- 13:07marriage or they might get in trouble by their husband.
- 13:10Sometimes it's because they don't even know something's
- 13:12going on until until all blows up, you know, like they find out
- 13:16about the infidelity or the gambling or whatever, like.
- 13:20And so I do think it is so hard to know fully what goes on in
- 13:25another person's marriage. And sometimes when divorce
- 13:28happens, we're not surprised and sometimes we're shocked.
- 13:32And I think what I have learned is that there are a lot of women
- 13:37who feel alone when they go through divorce.
- 13:40When I started sharing about my divorce, I had a lot of women
- 13:44reach out to me and say that they were going through one and
- 13:47didn't have a support system. They didn't have any resources.
- 13:52I also had some women that reached out that said they were
- 13:55in an abusive marriage, but they didn't know how to leave because
- 14:00they didn't have the resources. They were stay at home mom.
- 14:03They didn't have family or church that would support them.
- 14:07And so that is what made me realize that I needed to write a
- 14:10book about this. I needed to talk about this.
- 14:13It is not the easiest topic to share about in the Christian
- 14:17world, but I think especially being a Christian, being an on
- 14:21fire Christian from such a young age, I realized that I have
- 14:27always wanted to share the love of God with people.
- 14:29And this is a way that I'm doing it by letting them know like you
- 14:33are still loved and you can make it through this divorce.
- 14:37And here are some ways that you can make it here some
- 14:41encouragement. Here are some practical and
- 14:44wisdom pieces. And that's what keeps me going
- 14:48and sharing about my own journey.
- 14:51Yeah, definitely. I mean, God doesn't promote all
- 14:53the bad things that can happen to us, but he promises he'll use
- 14:57it. And you know, I mean, like I was
- 15:00telling you, I've walked through infertility, which is another
- 15:03thing that the big sea church, and I won't say individual
- 15:06churches, but this big sea church in general towards women
- 15:10don't. And even men, because there's
- 15:12stigma with men if they can't have kids, no matter what the
- 15:15reason is, but there's a stigma attached to it.
- 15:19So it's not something that's easy to walk through.
- 15:22And neither is divorce, mental health.
- 15:25There's so many different topics that are not seen as something
- 15:29that you can get through without quote UN quote, praying more,
- 15:33reading the Bible more, hiding it more like, you know, talking
- 15:39highly about your husband or your wife or whatever when he or
- 15:43she is doing all these things. It's the real authentic people
- 15:48that we are bringing ourselves in is when you start to really
- 15:53find that real and true community.
- 15:56And it helps you to be know that you are loved, you are that
- 16:00strong person and that no matter what, they'll be there for you.
- 16:06And it personally took me a long time to find that.
- 16:10Yeah, I. Didn't go to church for a couple
- 16:15of years after my divorce and I knew I still loved God and I
- 16:22felt the Holy Spirit in my life, but I needed to undo a lot of my
- 16:28old beliefs. Some of them, I think, were
- 16:32harmful, and some of them I just didn't know what to do with.
- 16:36And I have rebuilt my beliefs since then.
- 16:43And some of them were ideas and beliefs I've always had, and
- 16:47some of them are new ones. And I think that that is scary
- 16:51for some people. And it was scary for me.
- 16:53Yeah. There's this idea that if you
- 16:56question anything in your faith that it will all fall apart.
- 17:00And I, I talk to people and I think I share it like this in my
- 17:03book. But I, it was holding this ball
- 17:05of yarn and. And I was really scared to pull
- 17:09that string because I knew it would all fall apart.
- 17:13But eventually I felt like it was the only way for me to
- 17:15actually live was to pull that string.
- 17:17And in a way, it did all fall apart, right?
- 17:21But God is not afraid of that. God is above that and bigger
- 17:27than that. And I have found a more
- 17:32beautiful relationship with God in these last few years because
- 17:38it's more authentic. And also like you were saying, I
- 17:42have found a more authentic community of believers.
- 17:46And we go to church now that I just love going to.
- 17:50I love the people there and they really know how to walk with
- 17:54people that are going through hard things.
- 17:58And I find that that allows people to live more openly where
- 18:05they can at least share their stories because they know that
- 18:09they will be accepted and that they won't be turned away, that
- 18:12they will be loved as they go through these hard things.
- 18:15And then absolutely, deconstruction can lead to
- 18:18reconstruction. And that word, the
- 18:22deconstruction word can feel like the red letters, like not
- 18:29the red letters of the Bible, but like the red blinking
- 18:31letters of the scarlet letter, Like, no, they're going through
- 18:34deconstruction. They're going to walk away from
- 18:36their faith. And it's like, no, some do, but,
- 18:41but most people are just trying to figure out their own faith.
- 18:44They're trying to work out their faith with fear and trembling.
- 18:46They're just trying to discover who God is in their lives at
- 18:50this time and not the faith of our families or the faith of the
- 18:54people that have been surrounding us our whole lives.
- 18:57And I think it's so important that we do that.
- 18:59Yeah, because if it's somebody else's faith and it's not really
- 19:04ours anyways. And so when we make it our own
- 19:07faith, I think that we are able to love God in a more real, real
- 19:12way, and then we can also love others in a more real way.
- 19:15And the thing about getting older is that we realize more
- 19:18how messy life is. We all go through hard things.
- 19:23We know people going through hard things and that can create
- 19:28a much more authentic relationship with God because
- 19:32now we have gone through the fire and we realize that we can
- 19:37come out and still be here and be alive and be OK.
- 19:41Right, right. And I think for my, my personal
- 19:44walk going through like doing these interviews, I mean, I've
- 19:48done probably close to 400 interviews at this point.
- 19:53I have learned so much more about faith by hearing other
- 19:58people's stories. Because I have also found like
- 20:02when I first became Christian, and I don't know about you, but
- 20:04I became a Christian during the late 90s.
- 20:06So it was. It was the purity movement, and
- 20:11it was the. You know, all these conventions
- 20:14and the there was fire brimstone.
- 20:16Yeah, fire brimstone talk. Like all that stuff was going
- 20:19on. And that happens in every
- 20:20generation. But in the late 90s, I was like,
- 20:23you got to get saved or you're going to go to hell, which there
- 20:27is truth in that. But it's also just how you
- 20:29present it is really important. And I didn't know that at that
- 20:33time. And so going through and
- 20:38listening to everyone's story and also walking through my own
- 20:41junk, it's completely changed my view about things.
- 20:46Like, not my view about God because, you know, Jesus is the
- 20:49same yesterday, today and forever.
- 20:51But just knowing that I don't have to judge.
- 20:55It's not my job to judge. Yeah, you know, it's not my job
- 20:58to judge what people go through. It's just my job to be there and
- 21:01listen and share stories. Like that's my job.
- 21:05And it's been so freeing, like I don't have to judge anybody as
- 21:10much as I might try. Yeah, yeah.
- 21:13God, that's really beautiful. And I think it changes us when
- 21:15we hear other people's stories. It really does.
- 21:18So when you were walking through your divorce and everything
- 21:21afterwards, what Bible verse or verses were keeping you
- 21:24anchored? Yeah, I mentioned earlier about
- 21:28how I'm a very hopeful person. And so I love Bible verses that
- 21:34share that hope. And so one of the verses that I
- 21:37have clung to for a number of years is Isaiah 4319.
- 21:41And it says, see, I'm doing a new thing now.
- 21:45It springs up. Do you not perceive it?
- 21:48I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the
- 21:51wasteland. And I just love that picture.
- 21:55I mean, I'm a writer, so I love metaphor.
- 21:58I love word pictures and this idea that things are dying, but
- 22:03God is doing something new and, and doing something that you
- 22:06can't even imagine because it's streams in a desert in a
- 22:10wasteland, like that's not something that is normal.
- 22:13And so I love that verse. And another verse that is
- 22:18similar is Ezekiel 37 where it talks about dry bones coming to
- 22:22life. And so those those those verses
- 22:26in the Bible that use metaphor to describe something that is
- 22:31dead coming to life gives me so much hope.
- 22:34And I really do believe I've experienced it in my own life as
- 22:38well. And I don't think when people
- 22:40are going through hard things that we should sugarcoat it.
- 22:43It is important to say like, this is hard and to grieve with
- 22:47those who grieve. And when I was in the midst of
- 22:51my divorce, it was harsh. Yeah.
- 22:55But clinging to hope that something new could spring forth
- 22:59was really important to me. That while I grieved, both were
- 23:04true at the same time. And now, 60 years later, I can
- 23:08say truly that new life has sprung.
- 23:11And so I am remarried. And we have little 2 year old
- 23:18together who was a surprise. But like she's brought so much
- 23:20joy in blending our families. Like blending families has been
- 23:24another thing that has sometimes been hard that our two year old
- 23:27is so full of life and she has really been a little glue to our
- 23:31blended family. And writing this book came out
- 23:35of going through something hard. And I am really thankful that we
- 23:42live in a world with a God who can do that for us, can bring
- 23:49dry bones to life. Amen.
- 23:52Absolutely. So why was it important that the
- 23:55book came out now? Yeah, so I have always
- 24:00considered myself a writer. I have been a writer since I was
- 24:03a young girl and I have wrote a lot of articles, but this is my
- 24:07first book that I have read. And as I was sharing some on
- 24:14social media about my divorce and with some friends in real
- 24:17life, I've realized how in the Christian world there are not
- 24:23enough books and resources about divorce.
- 24:27And I specifically feel called to talk to Christian women and
- 24:32Christian men I know have their own difficulty in going through
- 24:35divorce. But I realized my story is as a
- 24:38Christian woman and I really wanted to speak to Christian
- 24:41women. And the thing that is exciting
- 24:45is that I am starting to see this be talked about a little
- 24:48more. There are a couple of books that
- 24:50have come out recently by Christian publishers that are
- 24:54similar to this topic. And so I do think that we are in
- 24:58a time where Christians are ready to start having this
- 25:03conversation more and that makes me excited.
- 25:06For me personally, it felt important to share now because
- 25:09I'm close enough still to my divorce that I, I remember it
- 25:13all and it feels fresh and I remember the parts that were
- 25:15really hard and the parts that were really hurtful.
- 25:19But I'm far enough removed that I can talk about it from a place
- 25:24with some wisdom. And so that's what led me to
- 25:27write it now, realizing there was a need, seeing these people
- 25:30that I knew in real life and then online that that we're
- 25:33wanting this information. And then I think that we are are
- 25:39ready to have this conversation more than we used to be in the
- 25:42Christian world. And I feel really hopeful that
- 25:47my book will land in the hands of those who were where I was
- 25:50when I was going through mine, which was in a place where I
- 25:55didn't know if God was going to love me if I went through this.
- 25:59And I didn't know if my whole faith was going to fall apart.
- 26:02And I didn't know if I was going to find another community of
- 26:06people, let alone a Christian community of people.
- 26:09And I didn't know financially if I was gonna be able to make it.
- 26:13I was a homeschool mom of four. And they were, they were all
- 26:18young and I worked very part time.
- 26:22I got married at 20. I had never really, like, lived
- 26:25on my own and taking care of myself.
- 26:27There were things that I, I, you know, I bought a house on my own
- 26:31and I'd never owned a house by myself before.
- 26:34And things broke down. Yeah.
- 26:38And, and, and so there were a lot of things that felt really
- 26:43scary to me when I decided to go through my divorce, both
- 26:46spiritually and physically. And I know that there are women
- 26:51that are in that spot now that are either already going through
- 26:54it or thinking about going through it that need hope that
- 26:58they can make it through that need practical wisdom on what it
- 27:02can look like to move forward. You know, if they have kids,
- 27:05like what does it look like to to Co parent?
- 27:08And I wanted to discuss all those things in my book and it
- 27:13felt like now is definitely the time to talk about this because
- 27:17there are people going through it now and I want them to to
- 27:20feel that they can do this. Absolutely.
- 27:24And I think it's so encouraging. I'm sitting here looking at your
- 27:28book is divided up amongst 3 parts into 13 chapters and I'm
- 27:34looking at the titles Courageous Ending, Courageous Healing,
- 27:37Courageous Future and one of the chapters.
- 27:41I'm actually walking through this with my one of my best
- 27:43friends right now, or at least we've had conversations about it
- 27:46because her husband passed away. It'll soon be several years ago
- 27:51and like dating world. Yes.
- 27:56Is so different, like I've, I've been with my husband since I was
- 28:0120. Yes.
- 28:02And I'm like, I mean, I joke around, but there's a huge truth
- 28:08into it. I was like, if something ever
- 28:10happens to you, I don't think I'll get married again because I
- 28:12don't want to have to deal with all that now.
- 28:14Yes, it's. Crazy now.
- 28:17It is so different. Yeah.
- 28:19I think there was a lot to think through.
- 28:22First of all, you mentioned growing up in the purity
- 28:25movement. And so even to rethink what are
- 28:30my ethics around dating. And I had never necessarily
- 28:35formed my own. It was just like what my church
- 28:38and youth group had told me. And I think it really is a much
- 28:42bigger topic than that. And the world has shifted.
- 28:45And so some of dating again involved me really sitting with
- 28:51what I wanted my dating ethic to look like.
- 28:54And you know, it's obviously different because I also have
- 28:58children. Like what do I want dating to
- 29:00look like? Because I have children.
- 29:02And then dating apps and the way people date now is very
- 29:06different. And I did.
- 29:10I used dating apps. And there were parts of dating
- 29:15that were fun, that were truly fun.
- 29:17And then there were parts of dating which anybody will tell
- 29:19you that dates now, especially as an adult, that are very
- 29:22discouraging and frustrating. Yeah.
- 29:27In the end. The the.
- 29:29Fun story is that my husband now and I originally met at in
- 29:34college at the Christian college I went to like 20 years ago now
- 29:39and we were friends there. Not like close friends, but we
- 29:42were friends there. And then we both went on our own
- 29:48journeys of life. And you know, I, I got married,
- 29:53had four kids, he got married and had one kid.
- 29:55We had different types of jobs. I was going to do mission work.
- 29:58And then in 2020, we both went through divorces and we had some
- 30:03similar friends still. And because of that, sometimes
- 30:07started hanging out in same groups.
- 30:09And we really just saw each other as friends for a while,
- 30:13which allowed us to build a really beautiful relationship.
- 30:16And actually my kids knew him like just as a friend, which was
- 30:21really neat because then when we did actually start dating, which
- 30:25did involve some encouragement from our friends that were like,
- 30:29we see something and you guys, right.
- 30:33But when we did start dating, my kids were really receptive to
- 30:38it, which was neat because I, that was probably one of the
- 30:41most terrifying parts to me about dating is like introducing
- 30:44somebody to my kids and when would the time be right?
- 30:47And my oldest is like pretty strong willed.
- 30:50And so I was a little scared, like what she would think.
- 30:54US oldest children. I know, I know.
- 30:58And yeah, he is the only one that I ever introduced to the
- 31:01girls because I was pretty committed to making sure I was
- 31:04serious before I ever did. But they really liked him and
- 31:08that made it much easier. And I know that that isn't
- 31:11everybody's story. That can be a really challenging
- 31:13part of of dating with kids. And I think that people are so
- 31:17brave when they start dating again.
- 31:19Like, it's hard. It's already hard as an adult.
- 31:22And so there's a bravery in just choosing to do it as an adult
- 31:25when you've been hurt, when you've been married before,
- 31:27you're aware of the reality of the world when you date, when
- 31:31you're older. That.
- 31:33In my teens. Right.
- 31:35But then, yeah, adding kids in, like there's just so much
- 31:38bravery and I am really proud of people that choose to step into
- 31:41it because it's the right choice for them.
- 31:43Right. Absolutely.
- 31:44I mean, yeah, like I said, I met my husband when I was 20.
- 31:47Yeah. And that's around the last time
- 31:50I dated anybody. And the last person I dated
- 31:53before him, it was a terrible date.
- 31:55It was like one of the worst ones.
- 31:57And I was like, this is terrible.
- 32:01Like all he wants to talk about is skiing.
- 32:02This sucks. It's like, no.
- 32:06So like I said, that was 26 some years ago.
- 32:09And I said, I've walked this out with some of my friends and I
- 32:14can, I'm pretty good at picking up red flags on people.
- 32:20And I think that's so important for the person who's dating to
- 32:23is to have that community who can step outside and look in and
- 32:28be like, I don't think they're noticing that this is a problem
- 32:33or that this is not a problem or they're thinking too much about
- 32:36their past relationships. And I think that that's just so
- 32:39important to have people in your life that will call out, call
- 32:43you out and up and help that. I agree so much which is why I
- 32:48was really thankful for our friend group that encouraged us
- 32:51to see each other. I knew if they saw it and they
- 32:54liked him and were supportive of this, that it was worth pursuing
- 32:59because they, our community sees things that we can't see
- 33:03sometimes. Right.
- 33:05Exactly. So, Alicia, I have loved our
- 33:08conversation. And I really do think that this
- 33:10is going to help people, along with your book, to be able to
- 33:15step out and realize the things that are going on and also know
- 33:19that they can do the hard thing and that the road sucks, but
- 33:25they will be OK. And I think that's so
- 33:28encouraging to people and the people who have walked through
- 33:31it, you know, it's great to know that they're not alone.
- 33:34So where can people find you? Yeah.
- 33:37Yeah, I have a website, it is aliciaroth.com and then on
- 33:43Instagram I am Little Women Farmhouse because at one point I
- 33:48just had four daughters and so those are the best 2 places to
- 33:52find me. And then my book Courageous
- 33:55Divorce. It will be available anywhere
- 33:58where you like to buy books. Awesome, you guys.
- 34:02It comes out if you're listening in real time, it comes out on
- 34:06Tuesday. So there's still plenty of time
- 34:08to pre-order. And if you are listening later
- 34:11than it is out there and it is available.
- 34:13So go get yourself a copy, keep it on your bookshelf.
- 34:17Keep it for someone you never know who is going to need to
- 34:21hear this message. So, Alicia, thank you so much
- 34:23for joining me today and I will talk to you guys next episode.
- 34:27Thank you so much for joining me for this episode, the Anchor by
- 34:30the Sore podcast. I pray that the story that you
- 34:32heard today will encourage your faith, challenge your faith, and
- 34:36also help you as you walk in your daily life.
- 34:40If this episode has done that, please feel free to leave a five
- 34:43star rating and review. Wherever.
- 34:45You listen to this podcast so that others can find it and grow
- 34:49as well. Have a blessed week and I'll
- 34:51talk to you next episode.