When I was a child I went through a lot. I suffered a lot of emotional trauma. By the time I was a teenager I felt like I had been a victim and I did what I thought was fighting back. What I didn’t realize then that the things I was doing were only furthering my trauma, and eventually would ruin my life!

I started to rebel (fight back) at the age of 12, and nobody taught me or disciplined me. My mother would yell and scream about what not to do but there wasn’t any teaching going on. I started to drink and smoke. I cursed, lied, stole and cheated. I attempted suicide, tried to get revenge and ruin lives. I would have done anything to be bad; I thought that was who I was. I hated myself, and everyone around me. I also felt like everyone hated me.

I had two children by the time I was 18 years old. I loved them so much but had no idea how to love them and take care of them. I was all alone without any help with my children. I would continue the cycle that I lived in my childhood. This didn’t help me to like myself any more than I already did, or didn’t. I ended up homeless for nearly three years because I didn’t get my act together. I tried and tried but it was just too hard for me to do it on my own. In all actuality, when I look back on it now, it was hard at times to even try.

Then came Jesus, the one and only true God! He found me where I was and lifted me out of all that I had been drowning in. I was suffocating and he gave me air…. Dying of thirst and he gave me living water…Starving to death and he feed me the Bread of Life!

He opened a door for me in a place called the Esplanade House. It is a transitional homeless shelter that helps families help themselves. While they where teaching me the life skills that I would need to live in this world the true church was teaching me how to live for God, take care of my children and how to get to know the only One who could make me whole again.

I repented (in the likeness of His death-1 Cor. 15:1-3, Romans 6:2) to God for forgiveness of my sins when I realized that they are why he had to come to earth robed in flesh and die on a cross. Then upon seeing in the Bible that this is the way that God has made it to be done I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to cleanse me of those sins (in the likeness of His burial-1 Cor. 15:4, Romans 6:3-4), and finally I was filled with His wonderful Spirit, speaking with other tongues, baptized in the Spirit (in the likeness of His resurrection-1 Cor. 15:4, Romans 6:4; 8:2). When and after all of this took place my life really started to change.

I was diagnosed with a chemical imbalance in my brain that affected my mental health when I was younger. You have to understand that is a "Psych” term and is not an actual physical problem. It really was the way that I was living (the sin) that was messing my mind up so much. I felt that I could not even control myself sometimes, because I wasn’t in my right mind. God took care of that! He healed me, took all that wretched sin away and made me whole. I no longer have to take pills that alter my reality just so that I don’t hurt myself or anyone else. Jesus made me whole and now I am full of joy, peace and love instead of pain, anger and shame. He promises that to everyone!

Yep, it is a promise to everyone! Even to you! No matter what you have ever done or what has ever been done to you. He loves us all and that is what drove Him to robe himself in flesh just to have that flesh die, so that we can be free! Read the story of His death in the Holy Bible (Matthew 27-28, Mark 15-16, Luke 23, and John 18-19), so that you can see what He endured for our sakes. No matter who you are or where you’ve been He died for you, so that you can be saved. Oh how we ought to praise Him for that love!

Read what Jesus said in John 3:5 about seeing the kingdom of God and then read in Acts 2:38 about what He taught one of his disciples about what we have to do in order to be saved. This is what needs to be done in order to experience what I have talked about with my story…. You know this is all true! It really is my life and since Jesus has come in and made me clean…. I love it!