Our Story

We wanted to share with you a little about where we started, where we have been and where we are headed! God has seared into our hearts and marriage His Ephesians 5 “One Flesh” vision. At his tugging, it is our desire to encourage, lift you up and share with you what He has done in our marriage!

Brad and I have known of each other since middle school and became friends in high school. We started dating during Brad’s senior year and my sophomore year. I was 16 and Brad was 17. Was it love at first sight? Not sure that is possible in High School. Regardless we were drawn to one another and started dating. We were Christians when we met and on fire for Jesus, but still babies in our faith in so many ways. We continued dating through college, both going to different colleges. Brad attended Messiah College majoring in Psychology, minoring in Family Studies. Kate attended Eastern University majoring in Youth Ministry and minoring in Missions. Through our six years of dating, we defiantly felt that God was calling us to be together and had a purpose in our union. We were married in June of 1999. Finally!!!

The first 5 years of our marriage, were in many ways a blur, full of changes and adjustments. We loved each other greatly, loved serving together, enjoyed each others company, but honestly were a bit confused about marriage.  Husbands and Wives are so uniquely different and that is how God designed us for marriage. His design is beautiful, but discovering that beauty is a journey that would take us many years.

In the beginning we were confused about many aspects of marriage: the roles defined by God for husband and wife, sex and intimacy, even basic communication and learning to understanding each other were some of our biggest struggles. Looking back now, we spent much of the first five years, confused and simply trying to figure things out day by day.

In 2003 we were blessed with our first-born son.  As any of you who have children know, that throws an even bigger wrench into marriage! Now, not only were we confused about each other, we were extremely tired, irritable and our time seemed consumed by this little bundle of joy. In our state of confusion we took our eye off the ball and tried to fix things ourselves! We failed miserably!  In 2005, God really broke both of us of the sin of selfishness. God worked in both of our hearts to remove things from our lives that were consuming us. God also spoke to our hearts the need for Him to truly be our center. Each one of us needed to re-center our life, and re-center our marriage.

If you had asked us back then, we would have told you that we had a good marriage, little did we know what potential there was for a great marriage! Our story does not end there, although God did some amazing work in our marriages that year, He was not done!

In the summer of 2009, My (Kate’s) uncle who was suffering from terminal head and neck cancer, needed to come and live with our family so we could care for him in his last days. Over the months of taking him to and from the Cancer Center every week, I was emotionally exhausted. But we felt very strongly that God wanted us to be the hands and feet of Christ to him. I kept praying that God would lead me, that he would give me strength for all that lay ahead. I also prayed everyday a prayer that I had read in a book! “Break me Lord, until I am wholly yours!” I had no idea the first place He would break me was my marriage!

In January right after the holidays, things with my uncle were still really tough. I was not sleeping well and my emotions were all over the place. During that time Brad and I were doing the Daniel Fast (which we highly recommend to all married couples). As we fasted together, I kept praying my prayer, “Break me Lord, until I am wholly yours!” It was then that I felt God speaking to me over and over, “Cling to your husband, for he is who I have given you to share this burden! Cling to him! Cling to him!”

At first I couldn’t even articulate why I felt this way, this need to cling to Brad. So at first I did not talk to him about it, but physically clung to him with all that I had. As Brad started to see that I needed this time, we started to carve it out every night. After we put the kids to bed, we would go to our room and wrap ourselves up in each other, talk, snuggle, whatever we needed. No TV, computer, or other distractions. I am sure many of you are wondering if this means we had sex? Yes, but most importantly it was the fact that we took the time to be with one another, without outside interruptions.

We were both truly amazed and humbled at what God was doing in our marriage. In the midst of chaos, God could make beauty out of us, as we laid our marriage and ourselves at his feet. Part of me could not believe where God had led us and the other part of me, was thanking God over and over for pouring out His blessing on our marriage. We started to search for a way to describe what was happening and that was when, through prayer God lead us to Ephesians 5: 31. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” One flesh, biblical oneness, complete with each other that is how we felt.  God rained down his blessing of oneness on Brad and I though this season in our lives. Through trials, prayer, fasting and seeking, God answered us!

At the same time He began to place a burden on our hearts for all of the couples seeking to have a Christ-centered, One Flesh marriage! It is out of that burden and much prayer that, One Flesh Marriage Ministry was born. This is God’s ministry and we seek to share how He is leading us in transforming our marriage. As we share with you, know that we are an open book. Feel free to ask us anything and we will share with you our experiences. No one has a perfect marriage and if we are honest, many of us struggle in our marriages. But there is great HOPE in God’s plan for our marriages.

Brad and Kate have been married for 11 years. They now have three children. Kate is currently a stay at home mom and is homeschooling their three children. She also has a photography business, Kate Aldrich Photography, which she enjoys in her spare time. Brad went on to earn his Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Drexel University in Philadelphia. He is a Pennsylvania Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist as well the Executive Director of the Family Resource and Counseling Centers. Brad and Kate are passionate about Jesus, worship, their marriage, Africa (specifically Ethiopia, where there second son was born) and their kiddos! They live in Lancaster County, PA