The Larrea’s Story: Receiving the Love that Never Fails
What happens when love is so absent, you no longer believe it exists?Mildred and Marcelo met at 18 and were married within two years. They practically raised each other. Soon they added two children to the mix.
But each spouse poured themselves into work. After a decade of marriage, both took a risk and started their own business. With two entrepreneurs in the home, life was stressful.
Busy weeks turned into busy months. Months churned by. Then years. Their small children turned into teens.
Things reached a breaking point just before Mildred and Marcelo’s 20th anniversary. Drained from years of workaholic hours, they functioned like roommates. Love had evaporated somewhere along the way. In its place, there was yelling, arguments, and contempt.
So they decided to separate.
Marcelo was at the end of his rope. And then something happened.
A colleague invited him to Norte Church. There he started meeting with Pastor Silva.
Pastor Silva encouraged Marcelo to focus outward on serving others, particularly his wife. Marcelo began to see how self-absorbed he’d become. For years he had taken his wife and family for granted. Now he started focusing on his wife and marriage.
Mildred remained unmoved though. She was adamant in her refusal to join Marcelo at Norte church.
Marcelo went to a men’s retreat with the church. At the retreat, Marcelo received grace, peace, and healing. Most importantly, Marcelo received the life-changing love of Jesus.
But the years of anger and indifference left Mildred’s heart scarred. She kept him at arm’s length so she wouldn’t get hurt again.
The lack of love also hurt their kids. The youngest suffered from panic attacks and the oldest experimented with alcohol and drugs. The stress left Mildred’s health in shambles.
Finally, Mildred agreed to join Marcelo at Norte Church. As soon as she stepped into the worship service, she broke down. The Lord met her with His overwhelming love. It was a love different than anything she’d ever experienced.
Through Norte, God, in Christ, gave Marcelo and Mildred the love they could never create for themselves or their family.
Since then, Marcelo and Mildred have been baptized. They’ve been to marriage retreats, joined a discipleship group, and attend the Bible Academy at Norte.
Norte Church embraced Marcelo and Mildred like family.
If you ask Marcelo and Mildred what they’ve learned at Norte, they’ll tell you…
The greatest teaching we’ve received is that there is a love that never fails—God’s love. And when you receive it you can respond in love.
