Mandy Guerin came to DivorceCare so her son could be part of DC4K when it was just starting. She heard about it from a friend; but it was three years after her divorce and she didn’t think she “had anything to work on.”
Mandy found community in DivorceCare, but also healing she hadn’t even realized she needed.
"God was working on my heart. I still had some unresolved anger. That was the last step in my healing process. It really helped me work through the anger,” she said. “Then, toward the end of class God kept telling me to lead, to use the pain I'd been through to help other people."
She’s now been a leader for five years.
“As a leader, God gave me a family in Divorce Care. They are my support system. I can call or text any time. They're always there for me.”
Mandy said she’s also been blessed to see God working in big and small ways.
“I have watched multiple marriages reconciled, which is my ultimate passion — to watch God renew marriages and to restore broken and hurt lives,” she said. “I’ve watched people come in completely broken. By the end, they still have a journey, but their whole countenance has changed.”
She encourages people who are separated or divorced to give DivorceCare a try.
“Personally it's intimidating to come in the first night. But I've rarely seen anyone come and not come back. I think everyone who's been through divorce should come through it,” she said.
For those wondering what to expect, Mandy explains that you’ll be in co-ed table groups for the 13 weeks of DivorceCare. You’ll get to know that small group well. The format for the meeting is 15-minute small group time during which you go through your homework, a 45-minute video and then follow-up questions. DC4 Kids and The Split for teens happen simultaneously in another part of the building.
At first, Mandy wasn’t sure about being in a co-ed group.
“But that was really helpful to me because I had a jaded point of view. It was really good to hear from the opposite sex about how they were feeling. I had such a negative outlook on men that the co-ed group helped me see another person’s point of view.”
Mandy said the work done in DivorceCare has healed her and grown her.
“I never thought I'd be in front of people and saying you will have joy, you will laugh again, but I do,” she said. “I've taken the class at least 10 times and I always get something out of it, even as a leader.”