After an Affair: Pursuing Restoration

Michael Gembola, a licensed professional counselor and licensed preacher with the PCA, is executive director at Blue Ridge Christian Counseling and has taught courses at CCEF, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Biblical Theological Seminary.

Chances are that if you are holding this book, you are probably going through one of the roughest experiences of your life. You have fallen (have been unfaithful) and you want help , but knowing where to turn is complicated and confusing. You feel both guilty and frustrated. Your family and friends are distant, and God alone is left (and you're not sure how happy he is with you either). Yet God is a gracious, loving healer who makes upside-down things right side-up again, even this.

Professional counselor Michael Gembola provides daily guidance and encouragement to direct what feels like a long walk through the wilderness toward lasting change. He offers reflection questions, plus suggestions for practical tasks and actions, so you can form new qualities and habits as you move forward. Here is help and encouragement for you to move toward God in repentance while moving closer toward your spouse in reconciliation.

"Inviting and compelling. It is as if Michael is a good friend who knows you and knows exactly what you need. He will bring you into the meaningful words of God that give you direction, and he will set your pace so that you persevere with hope."
---Ed Welch, Counselor and Faculty Member, Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation

"Written so that the person swirling in guilt, shame, and...family-altering decisions can know that God will meet them right where they are."
---Brad Hambrick, Pastor of Counseling, The Summit Church, Durham, North Carolina

"Pastoral wisdom and counseling experience shine as [Michael] directs the reader to spiritual food that is often missed but is critical to surviving the wilderness of adultery."
---Winston Smith, Author, Marriage Matters: Extraordinary Change Through Ordinary Moments

"After an affair, most couples think, "Now what?" Questions abound: Is this salvageable? What do we do? Where do we begin? Will we ever be the same? In After an Affair, Michael Gembola offers concrete and soul-healing strategies so that both parties can benefit and grow through a better understanding of themselves and the gospel."
---John Freeman, Founder, Harvest USA; Author, Hide or Seek: When Men Get Real with God About Sex

Just read Michael’s introduction and the first devotional. He knows enough about you that you will want to continue. If you do, he will bring you into the meaningful words of God that give you direction, and he will adjust your pace in a way that you persevere with hope. OR These devotionals are inviting and compelling. Just read Michael’s introduction and first devotional. It is as if he is a good friend who knows you and knows exactly what you need. You will be disappointed that there are only thirty-one devotionals, but you can always read them again, and again.
"When we're in a crisis we need the hope of the gospel more than ever. But standard devotional guides don't seem to be speaking to elevated emotions and despair we feel. This can make God feel farthest away when we need to feel Him most near. That is why I am so grateful for Michael Gembola devotional After an Affair. God's Word is sturdy enough for the most desperate times. This devotional is written so that the person swirling in guilt, shame, and life-family altering decisions can know that God will meet them right where they are; as painful and disorienting as that place may be."
After an Affair is a tremendous help to anyone who has experienced infidelity in marriage. Michael's pastoral wisdom and counseling experience shine as he directs the reader to spiritual food that is often missed but critical to surviving the wilderness of adultery.  I will certainly be recommending and using this resource in my own ministry.
Infidelity involves many factors leading up to betrayal. Deceit in behavior and the heart are the two most obvious. Hidden sins require ruthless and consistent truth-telling and the risk of practicing new thinking and habits that will move people forward. Michael, with After an Affair, has helped us tremendously by outlining a 30-day guide that invites someone to the deeper work necessary.
After an affair most couples think “now what”? Questions abound. Is this salvageable? What do we do? Where do we begin? Will we ever be the same? In After an Affair, Michael Gembolo offers concrete and soul-healing strategies so that both parties can benefit and grow through a better understanding of themselves and the gospel.