We moved to Redding about 6 years ago from Tacoma, WA, to be a part of the Bethel community. We’d heard stories of the supernatural that we’d never heard before, and we were hungry to know God in that way. At that point, we’d been married for seven years with two little girls. Our marriage had recently experienced a breakthrough in vulnerability, but we were still learning to build trust and connection with one another.
Before we were married, we had both slept with other people and with each other. We had already worked through the shame of those choices, so when it came to “Purity Week” at school, we simply felt gratitude for all that God had done.
One night that week, we had a very deep conversation about the ways we were going to protect our marriage. We discussed potential temptations for each of us and the ways that we were going to protect ourselves from them. It very intense, but we left that conversation feeling even more connected.
The following day, after speaking on purity, Kris Vallotton prayed for virginity to be restored to anyone who had lost theirs outside of the covenant of marriage. As a married woman, I (Naomi) didn’t consider stand for prayer. Later that week, though, we realized the Lord had performed a miracle anyway. Even though we hadn’t asked for it, even though we’d been married for 10 years with two babies, God completely restored my virginity. Baffled and amazed, we asked God, “What are you saying?” Immediately, He reminded us of the conversation we’d had the night before Kris’ talk.
“Because you’ve honored this covenant,” He said to us, “So do I.”
This year, I (Warren) started doing my first year of ministry school at BSSM. As I’ve been pursuing God more and more in my personal life, it’s been crazy to see the effect on our kids. About a week ago, I was walking past my daughters’ bedroom and I heard them singing an old Brian and Katie Torwalt song. Curious, I thought, “What are they doing in there?” So, I opened up the door, and they told me that they started a Gospel Club. All on their own, they decided to read the Bible, memorize a verse, pray together, and sing worship. At ten and eight years old, they do this together for an hour every day. It is wild!
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