~*~
The result of an affair, she was an illegitimate child born to a single mother. She grew up in a confusing, dysfunctional home.
She was beaten up on the daily by her older sisters, being subjected to near suffocations and intentional near drownings.
She was sexually abused repeatedly by her teenage cousin.
Riding in the family car each day, she would study the faces of her mother and sisters, looking for cracks along their jawlines, absolutely sure they were wearing masks. She was convinced she had been kidnapped because of how out of place she felt. She kept waiting for her real family to come find her.
Her mother got remarried to an emotionally-absent man, and this now 7-year-old little girl was even more confused about what love meant.
The family began moving all around the United States, and she ended up attending eight different schools before high school graduation.
She developed debilitating migraines.
One of her older sisters
became an alcoholic at age 14 and the abuse to this now 11-year-old little girl
became worse.
The first guy who said he loved her, she married. At 19 years old, she thought this would be the key to her happiness. She was wrong. Five years later, he left her for his hairdresser.
Now a single mom with two young babies, she became obsessed with exercise. She thought, "If only I look a certain way, I will be accepted and happy." Bulimia became a way of life. The acids took a toll on her body and her mind.
She decided to go to counseling. The counselor encouraged her to date again. She took a chance and was date raped by the first guy she met. Reeling, she went back to counseling for help. This same counselor decided he alone could save her and convinced her of such. She wanted to be saved. She believed him. She married him. Five months later, he left her.
Jobless, penniless, broken, and ashamed. She was a little girl lost.
~*~
Loved immensely by her grandparents, a little girl found sanctuary in the only two people she could trust to love her unconditionally.
While being sexually abused by a monster, Jesus mercifully protected her mind.
While being held down by her bullying sisters, she was given the spiritual and physical strength to hold her breath long enough to live through each episode.
Forced to move more times than she could stand, God gave her amazing friends in every single town. He even gave her substitute mothers who loved her without manipulating her emotions.
Her failed teenage marriage resulted in two beautiful humans who kept her sane and gave her a reason each day to crawl out of the fetal position. As a parent, she broke generational curses of abuse. She strived to be the parent she had needed as a child.
She found an amazing Christian counselor who graciously coached her to cling to the only One who could heal the brokenness.
God even granted her the courage to face her rapist; she forgave him, a little bit for his sake but mostly for her peace.
Her sisters are now her best friends.
And just when she had given up on ever meeting someone who would protect her, God sent her a linebacker of a human to knock down the walls of her heart. With this man, she gained a beautiful marriage that mirrors Christ's love for His Church, a cuddle-bug brown-eyed bonus daughter, and the beautiful gift of their shared baby girl.
She became a foster mom to ten precious newborns.
She became a living kidney donor to a stranger.
She became a grandmother of beautiful, precious grandbabies.
She is loved. She is a little girl redeemed.
"The Lord will work out HIS plans for my life." Psalms 138:8
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