Sharing my divorce story.

I’m Muslim and in my community women tend to marry early and really idolize marriage until they face the reality of it. As women, we need to know ourselves better and work on our future before we get with someone. We need to know the guy as well and we need to stop being delusional

I'm an atheist but the prayer at the end felt really nice and really spoke to me. It's comforting to think that someone I don't even know would pray for my wellbeing.

I'm 24, not married (yet), but your story taught me so much about the reality of marriage. Thank you for being open and brave enough to bare your scars to us. I'm so in love with your energy and overall style (cottagecore is my go-to aesthetic when it comes to dressing up). May He continually bless and heal your heart as the time passes! ♥️

Girl our story is so similar. I’ve been there. Got married young, divorced at 22. But got away, thank God. Now I’m married to the most amazing man and blessed with a beautiful baby boy. I’m praying for you and thankful to see I wasn’t the only one who had to experience this.

I have not had this experience myself, but I’ve struggled with pornography. I’ve never gotten to the point of addiction but it was something I turned to occasionally when my hormones were raging and I should have been crying out to God or reaching out to other people instead. I knew in theory that it was harmful to me but refused to believe it was harmful to anyone else. Seeing what happened to you absolutely broke my heart. I broke down crying because I can’t imagine ever breaking someone’s heart the way yours was broken. I don’t want to let it get to that point. I’ve been growing more and more disgusted with pornography and I thank God for that. But this is that extra push that’s made me decide that I will not let myself get into marriage with a porn problem. I will not do this to another person. God bless you for sharing. You’ve helped change something in me.

My mom and I are going through something incredibly similar. Watching your story, it hits home. My dad is struggling with sex addiction and refuses to seek help. He's cheated on my mom hundreds, if not thousands of times. He's spent thousands of dollars on porn and meeting up with people from the internet. My mom filed for divorce this week and since then, he's been love bombing us... pretending nothing is happening. Its really tough to go through. The denile, the lying, the manipulation, etc. Its very abusive to not only us, but himself. Sending you a massive hug. Thank you for sharing your story.

I’m so sorry to hear about the pain you went through. I can’t wait to see what is in store for your future 💕

I'm so proud of you for getting through this!! That is unbelievably hard to go through this with the person you thought you would grow old with and I will always be in awe of how amazing you are and how far you have gotten

I completely identify with being within the first few months of marriage and things suddenly becoming awful. I got married at 21 and divorced at 26. I knew within the first few months - but I stayed for 4 years.

Dear Lauren, my heart actually kind of broke a little listening to your story. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this and equally I am so inspired by your faith and by the fact that you're still holding onto God and his promises to you. May He strengthen you and bless you abundantly. Much love ❤️

I had been really uneasy this week as I learned that my dear friend who just recently turned 18 is now engaged to a man who has cheated and lied throughout their 10 month relationship. I believe that in the church, young girls often fall into these situations because self love is not focused on, and many outdated ideas of a woman’s value have been perpetuated. I think we encourage grace to a fault when it causes young girls to fail to stand up for themselves and their boundaries in these sorts of relationships. I am truly sorry that this is your reality and I am praying healing over you. Peace be with you ❤

Thank you for sharing. I’m so sorry you went through all of this. I see your strength, it’s very empowering to see. ❤

I went through such a similar thing with my ex boyfriend I remember how stressed out I was during that time my body was screaming for me to get out, once he cheated on me I finally felt free cuz I finally left. Praying for our healing💕💕

The amount of mental gymnastics that people do before getting out of a situation is incredible

I also just went through a divorce as well, this past August, still in my 20s, after three years of marriage. The similarities to your story are almost haunting. The many tiny lies, the pornography, the half-finished book on how to salvage the relationship, the shame, the stress signals my body was giving me that I ignored, being told he’s no longer attracted to you, the cheating with an older woman but claiming it’s not “real” cheating towards the end of the relationship…seriously. You and I could probably talk for hours, lol. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you the best in your journey forward. You are NOT alone, and I mean that in both the sense that God is with you and that others have gone through similar experiences. I felt like an alien going through my divorce, unwanted, and a failure to boot. Time has given me so much clarity and peace already and I’m sure it has for you as well. A friend told me (when everything was still so raw) that someday she hoped everything I was going through would be seen as God’s mercy. That day came faster than I ever could’ve thought. Good luck. ❤

I’m so sorry you had to go through that at such a young age. I’m the same age as you and I couldn’t imagine having to deal with that kind of stress. When you talked about worrying about doing things alone and for yourself I actually cried because that isn’t something you should have to worry about at 20/21 years old. I can see you’re in a better place than you once were but I hope God continues to heal your spirit and heart.

Thank you for being so raw and honest, you have helped so many girls out there. You are amazing and strong and beautiful ❤

Thank you Lauren for sharing your story. It’s truly making a difference, helping those with similar stories and reminding us that we are not alone. ❤ So proud of how far you’ve come and know that you will do great things.

Thank you for sharing your story in such a loving and truthful way. I’ll be praying for continued healing and I hope you’re doing well

Lauren, thank you so so much for sharing your story. My heart breaks for you ♥️ You are so strong and such an inspiration. Your testimony that God was by your side through all of this, has been such a comfort for me, as my relationship with God has been rocky. Thank you for sharing your story and I wish you all the best as you go towards the wonderful life that awaits you