Share Your Story

We all have a story to tell.

Today going home from Bible study I was able to share part of my story with my 17 year old daughter. It is a part of my life that I wish I could erase, a part that changed my very being. Yet, at the same time the very worse thing eventually brought me to my knees.

When I was fourteen years old I was rapped by a pastor in the church building.

Charges were never pressed, my family never talked about it, and he went on to do the same thing to another girl.

Guilt.

Shame.

Despair.

Those are words I became familiar with.

As I put on my mask and continued on with my life things drastically changed. I remember literally closing the door to the Lord. As far as I was concerned He abandoned me. He became dead to me.

Over the course of the next year I entered into a life of drugs, drinking, and skipping school. I didn't care.

However, God only let me go so far before He radically brought me back to His side. Almost a year after the rape my grandmother (who I lived with) pulled me out of public school and put me in a christian school a few towns away. My life changed. I received Christ as my Saviour one cold Feb. day on the coast of Maine. I didn't understand it all. I wasn't with people. I wasn't in a church. I was literally outside by the ocean and I stuck my hand in my jacket pocket and pulled out a tract. I read it and figured that I had nothing to loose. Jesus met me there that very day.

I wish I could say that I followed Him wholeheartedly all the rest of my days. Unfortunately I stumbled and fell several times. However, He was there to pick me up each and every time. He is faithful. He is just. He is worthy.

The whole point of this post is to be open and honest with those around you. Let them know what God has done in your life. Share the good, bad, and ugly. Be real. When you are real, you give the person opportunity to be real too. God uses our past to heal others, don't hide your past but use it for His glory. There are many people out there that want to hear what God has done. They want to know that there is hope. They want to know that they too will be okay. Listen to Him and be aware of those around you. When He says speak, speak. You never know who will be blessed by hearing what you have to say.