Yesterday I read an article on the web site of Fox News that I wish every man or woman who is standing with God and praying for marriage restoration could have read.
The article related how many couples are using a joint email account so there is total transparence between them. Instead of a cute user name, these couples have opted to use both names, such as jackandjill@anywhere.com .
Anyone who emails either Jack or Jill will know from the address that both a husband and wife may be reading the message. In addition, Jack and Jill share a common password, so either can check the other's mail at any time.
I am unsure how this could be put into practice by standers, but if God convicts you to make your email readable by your prodigal spouse, please follow His leading.
We did not have email in the 1980's while going through our problems, but if we did, I sense that Charlyne would have sent me information on how to read her email. This was the kind of 100% trust that no matter how strange it seemed to me, was being used by God to draw one more prodigal home.
There is another area where you might be able to make changes today to help the cause of your marriage. That is in email user names. I cannot even use examples, lest I offend someone, but we receive mail from females with suggestive or ungodly screen names. We receive email from male standers that could indicate he is on the prowl, something that would not align with the stand an absent wife is hearing about.
If you have ever received an opposite sex email from either Charlyne or me, you might have noticed a copy going to "my wife" or "my husband." We cannot risk a stander misunderstanding our reason for writing them back. This was birthed not out of an incident, but out of the total transparency that Fox News was writing about. Beyond that, both of us receive copies of email sent to the Ministry.
Since the email door is open, and I am attempting to help you, would you allow me to venture into one other area? Charlyne and I feel it is both wrong and dangerous for opposite sex standers to have an ongoing email relationship. Yes, I know, this may seem old fashioned, but we have seen the results when a couple become close through email, regardless of how far apart they live. You need to remember that Satan will use every opportunity to drive a wedge into your marriage restoration prayers.
I have no idea how God wants to use these words to help in your marriage restoration, but if He convicts you over email, please do as God is leading.
Copy: Charlyne :-)
