“We can’t go on like this,” she told him.

“I don’t know how to fix it,” he responded.

And with that, he slowly turned and shut the door, leaving her behind with the pieces of their broken dreams lying on the floor.

How did they end up here?

If you’d seen them at their wedding – standing in the church on that clear, sunny day, surrounded by their loved ones – you would have seen two people so full of hope and excitement. Almost bursting with anticipation as they imagined all that was yet to be – all the dreams they had and how they’d achieve them together.

A few years later, their baby arrived – ahead of their well-laid plans. Something shifted between them, but they hardly noticed as they were too busy adjusting to their new life as parents. Then baby number two was on its way and he needed a better job to pay the bills. The career change required them to move. And something chipped away inside her as she said goodbye to her friends and family, but she put on a brave smile and decided to make the most of it.

He dove head-first into his new high-pressure job, but slowly began to realize the step up in his career wasn’t all he dreamed it would be. There was a shift inside of him, but he didn’t want to put that frustration on his wife after moving their whole family for his job, so he too put on a brave face.

The kids began to grow up and mom and dad did everything they could to help their children succeed. In fact, their sole priority became the kids. But once the kids became teenagers and started to have lives outside of the home, mom and dad were left looking across the dinner table at each other every evening, hardly knowing what to say.

When their children moved out, the awkwardness of being married to a stranger pushed one of them into the guest bedroom.

Step by step, their hopes and dreams unravelled.

This is a heartbreaking reality that far too many Christian couples find themselves in.

In fact, the statistics are shocking. For every three couples in our communities, one will experience the pain and heartache of separation and divorce. For every two couples who are remarried, one will feel the weight of marital breakdown a second time. Even more couples find themselves alone in their marriage with a spouse who feels more like a roommate than a marriage partner.

I’m sure you have felt this pain in your own social circle.

So what can be done?

We at Focus on the Family Canada want to bring the proven, marriage-saving principles of the Hope Restored program to couples all across Canada to prevent this rampant breakdown within families.

But we need your help to do this.

Hope Restored is a personalized, intimate and biblically based counselling program for rebuilding marriages in crisis. During 20 to 32 hours of focused counselling, couples unpack the challenges that have built up over the years to get to the root of the problem. Over the course of these few days, they learn new communication and conflict resolution skills to work through their issues in a healthy way.

Having operated in the U.S. for over 18 years with an astounding track record of success, I’m thrilled to let you know that we successfully launched this program in Canada last summer – and by God’s grace, it is having an impact already!

We have witnessed couples go from sitting on opposite ends of the couch, barely able to look at each other, to, just a few days later, holding hands, sharing an embrace and really communicating. One couple told us:

“We saw amazing things transpire and transform us. My husband said, ‘This gave me hope that our marriage can be repaired. We are leaving here with tools that will grow the foundation the counsellors laid through the program.’ Thank you!”

If these techniques can help couples find hope and a way back from crisis, then we believe they will be able to prevent couples from getting to that point of breakdown.

That’s why we want to get these principles into the hands of as many couples as possible!

Would you donate today to give marriage-saving skills to couples all across the country?

Your donation today will expand our current marriage ministry to include the proven principles of Hope Restored and share them with as many couples as possible through:

Would you join us in this vision to minister to couples who feel lost in their marriage and desperately need help by making a special gift of $20 or more?

And if you give today, your donation will be matched!

A friend of the ministry who is passionate about saving and strengthening marriages in Canada has generously offered to match any gift given to this campaign – up to $100,000! That means $20 becomes $40. Your gift of $30 becomes $60. And a $50 donation becomes $100!

Help prevent marriages from breaking down. Help prevent families from experiencing the pain and emotional scars that come from family breakdown – for the sake of the husbands and wives, the children and grandchildren, and the community around them that are all affected when a marriage starts to crumble.

Your donation will give these proven marriage-saving communication and conflict resolution tools to couples all across the country to help them before they reach a crisis.

Visit our website to donate online today!