Is Your Friend Considering Divorce? Ways to Help

Sep 4, 2020 | current events, helping others, Ideas, Marriage, relationships

divorce

Heartrending news landed in the New York Post this week: Divorce rates spiked 34% between March and June this year.

According to the article, 31% admitted quarantine caused “irreparable damage” to their relationships.

Chances are decent you know a friend whose marriage is straining right now: Their reality is one of slammed doors. Words they never thought they’d say. Tears dripping in the dark.

They’re also grappling with bewilderment, shame, searing hurt.

FamilyLife, my largest client, asked me to compile some ideas so you could help a friend–and even some hope for the friend themselves.

This week I want to pass on to you When Your Friend’s Marriage Shows Signs of Divorce: 7 Non-Pushy Ways to Help.

And if it helps, here’s two more for your friend who’s turning over the idea of divorce in their head:

For what it’s worth, if you’re this kind of friend, with the long phone calls, the prayers, the embraces where your shoulder gets wet? I’m imagining your the Jesus-in-Levis your friend desparately needs right now. I love, love that you’re going the distance for your friend, doing the hard work no one else might be able to do right now.

Please. Keep pressing on.

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Looking for more help for someone thinking about divorce? Try

 

Janel Breitenstein

Janel Breitenstein

Author | Speaker

I’m totally #thatmom–the one diving into all the weirdness with my kids, sidestepping a few eyerolls. Pull up a chair for practical ideas and discussions on the parenting, relationships, and spirituality we’re all army-crawling through every day.

I’m a speaker, freelance writer, and author of Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids’ Hearts (Harvest House, 2021); Deliver Us from Meltdowns: And Other Real-World Prayers for Parents (Andrews McMeel, September 2025); How to Stop Yelling Up the Stairs: Keeping Your Cool While Raising Your Kids(Kregel, April 2026), and Emotionally Strong(ish) Parenting: 7 Shifts for a Resilient and Jesus-Centered Home (NavPress, September 2026).

My work can be found on Christianity Today, Focus on the Family, and FamilyLife. After five and a half years in Uganda, my family and I returned to the U.S., where we continue to work on behalf of the poor.