Understanding God's roles for a husband and a wife

Brittany Petisce - Johnston, RI

I first spoke with Stephanie the week before my wedding day. At the time, I was experiencing feelings of fear and doubt in regards to the man I was intending to marry. It made me sad, confused, and frustrated, and I was receiving no clear answer to my prayers. Stephanie carefully listened when I explained my situation, and she asked questions to better understand what I was going through. My main takeaway from our conversation was understanding the four core needs of a man (husband) verses the four core needs of a woman (wife) and how they are different yet complimentary. I realized that he was not meeting many of my own core needs as a woman and I also was not meeting many of his core needs as a man either.

​Our relationship at the time was heading down a path that was completely opposite of God’s order laid out in Ephesians. Stephanie gave me examples of how I can meet his needs, and in turn, it would motivate him to want to meet mine. Since my husband is very teachable and committed to our relationship, he was willing to put the work in, too.

During my encouraging conversation with Stephanie, I felt the Spirit comfort me and confirm within me that the decision to marry my fiancé was the right one. I had an understanding and appreciation of the importance of maintaining God's order in our relationship and marriage. Going into our wedding day, I felt a complete 180 degree turn around in my perspective. I felt very confident and hopeful after my conversation with Stephanie. To this day, I’ve been happily married to my husband for two months with no regrets. I feel blessed, secure, loved, and thankful that God gave me the "go" to move forward and that He spoke through Stephanie to help me.
 
Stephanie really takes the time to pray and invite the Holy Spirit to be present in our conversations, which is something that is very important. She is also very patient, and will spend extra time with you if it is needed. She still checks in with me through our once-a-month phone calls to make sure things are still going well, and she helps me when we hit stumbling blocks. I am very thankful that I met Stephanie because she encouraged me with Godly wisdom with one of the most important decisions of my life!​