There can be hope and contentment after divorce

Four years ago, Jeanne Truxillo was caught off guard when her husband left her and their four children. A stay-at-home mom who home-schooled her children, she didn’t know what she was going to do.

Today, with the help of her Catholic parish family at St. Peter Church in Covington, a faith-filled and loving homeschooling group affiliated with St. Peter and her family, the 33-year-old Truxillo has emerged from despair and found hope.

“God knew this was going to happen, and he sent people to wrap their arms around us and help us,” Truxillo said.

 Soon after she became a single parent, she discovered the Divorce Care group at St. Peter’s that shepherded her through the initial stages of her feelings. Originally a coed ministry that used Christian materials, the group changed its name to “Divorced Catholic – a Journey of Hope,” uses only Catholic materials and has separate nights for men and women. Truxillo is now its coordinator.

“It helped me to learn that I wasn’t alone, and that there was a place for me in the church and even in my family and community,” she said. “There is a misconception that people have if you are a divorced Catholic.”

Truxillo said she also had the support of her parents whom she and her children – now ages 4, 5, 7 and 10 – lived with for two years until she got back on her feet. Support comes from her former husband’s wages being garnished, and the continued kindnesses that people bestow upon her. She and her children live in a home that a parishioner at St. Peter’s rents to her.

“He is a generous and kind man who has allowed us to live in his house for a fraction of the rent he could charge,” Truxillo said.

She advises anyone going through a similar situation of being left by a spouse: don’t seclude yourself.

“Reach out to the community, the church community,” she said. “Prayer, perseverance and fortitude will see you through. Through that suffering, God will give you an abundance of graces, and you will be joyful again.”

Her favorite Bible verse is Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.”

Through her trials, she said her faith has never wavered. In fact, by attending daily Mass, adoration and reconciliation it has buoyed her forward.

“Faith is what sustained me to know that God was going to use the suffering for good,” Truxillo said. “He hadn’t abandoned me; he was there with me.”

            Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarion herald.org.