A Fairytale Marriage? - Inspired Marriage

Here is a part of our marriage story.

I am so in awe at the connection that Sandy and I have and had all those 14 years of marriage. As I look back from day 1, we were just connected from the beginning. People thought we were crazy because we met online on Feb 02, 2002, talked on the phone Feb 4th, set a wedding date on Feb 18th and met in person on march 4th 2002.

Yes we set a wedding date 16 days after our first chat and before we met in person. Our connection was a strong as I ever felt. I just knew we were supposed to be married. Yes the date we set was Oct 5th, 2002 and that is the date we did married. We spent a total of 26 or so days in person together because she lived in KY and I lived in GA. We talked hours every night back then and that was when we didn’t have unlimited phone plans like now. needless to say it was expensive.

Sounds like a fairytale story and to a degree it was and still is but the problems came 6 months after we married my mom passed away. I was a momma’s boy and I didn’t know how to act. I leaned on my addictions to chatting, drugs and alcohol more than ever and that almost destroyed our marriage. Yes I said chatting too, that was probably Sandy’s biggest hurt during those first 5 years of marriage because I told her all about my addictions and how I destroyed my first marriage and all she could see was a pattern repeating.

On the chatting side she did put her foot down and I gave all that up but that’s when the drugs and alcohol came even stronger. She put up with a ton those first 5 years of marriage and if someone would have been a fly on the wall in our home on that 5th year, they would have thought we had a nightmare of a marriage.

As I look back through the years I am grateful that she believed in me so much and stuck by me even though 98% of the women would have left during those trying times. She knew what was inside of me and prayer every night for God to heal whatever is going on with me, She had no where else to turn as we were not going to church or anything back then.

She was a very strong woman to be able to handle all that even though society would say she was weak but God says she was strong for that because she leaned on him through it all.

I still remember that date Dec 26th, 2007, I woke up realizing I got drunk on Christmas for the very first time in my life. I pleaded with God please take me or take the desire for my addictions away because I can’t handle this anymore. Something has to go. I was ready to take my own life when I felt the nudge of God telling me to give him 30 days and I will be healed.

I thought that was the craziest thing I ever heard but I listened because I was desperate as I knew sandy deserved a real man and not the man I had become through my addictions.

I told Sandy that was it no more drinking or drugging and she acted excited but she heard this before. I made it through those 30 days and have never looked back sense. I can’t even remember feeling any desire for drugs or alcohol because after those 30 days was when the desire went completely away. Some people say addictions can’t be healed but I disagree because I truly feel that God answered me and healed me from all that crap. 19 years of addictions is rough.

I am so grateful that our story will end one day with a fairytale ending now because that is what Sandy truly deserves. This was a fairytale from the beginning and the crazy thing is our connection grows each day. We are truly Blessed that neither of us ever gave up and now we are reaping all the years we have sown into our marriage!

Living an Inspired Marriage,

Chris Benton

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Chris Benton

I am co-founder of Inspired Marriage. I went through 19 years of addictions until God healed me Dec 26th, 2007. The first 5 years of our marriage was hell because of my addictions. With Sandy's patience, I was able to allow God to work in me and we have been growing spiritually together ever since! Oct 5th, 2023 was 21 years of marriage and it's been an inspired one!