Faith Heart Magazine Faith Heart Magazine: Volume 4 | Page 47

The abandonment by my mom left a trail of hurt that impacted me in ways I never could imagine. It wasn’t until my adolescent years though that the struggles began manifesting itself. Shortly after high school, I began dating the wrong person. It wasn’t long before that relationship became physically abusive. The last incident was so intense, I thought sure I was going to die. A year later, I was pregnant at 19. I went on to be a single mom throughout college. I went to school full time and I worked full time. It was hard but we made it. I eventually got married. I was divorced a year and half later only to realize that I wasn’t ready to be married and I had connected with the wrong person once again. The greatest struggle however, was being a mom. There was an obvious lack of connection between my daughter and I. I didn’t know what it meant to be a mom. All I knew was that I had a child that needed to be taken care of but I had no clue as to how I nurture and love this child because I didn’t have that. And as He began healing me, He began restoring things in my life that I had lost. And once complete healing and restoration took place, He began helping me walk into my purpose and passion. Today I am married to an amazing husband, and am a mother to three awesome children. Now I am reaching back and helping other women and moms that are struggling with their identity. You see, the identity crisis is one the most powerful weapons the enemy uses to get us off track. If we allow him to use circumstances, people, and situations to make us believe that we are the opposite of everything God created us to be, then we will struggle to fulfill the call God has on our life. I have learned many valuable lessons along the way. But as you continue your journey through life, remember three things: It seemed like I was constantly losing in life. I was pretty broken. I experienced a lot of hurt and pain. I felt life had dealt me some pretty bad blows. I struggled with abandonment. I struggled with rejection. I struggled with feeling worthy. • God cannot pour new wine into old wineskins. There are many things from your past that you must learn to let go. Don’t resurrect things that are meant to be dead. Remember Lot’s wife. I felt like I wasn’t meant to ever be a wife. I hated being a mom because I sucked at it. I spent the first half of my life trying to be something that I wasn’t because I didn’t know who I truly was. • All is never lost with God. He is a restorer. He will restore all things unto you. Yes even the things we forfeited on our own. He makes ALL things new. It wasn’t until I got to truly know Christ that things began changing for me. I finally learned just how much God loves me and in learning how much He loves me, I learned who He created me to be. And as I began learning my true identity, God began healing me in every place I was broken. • Being a mother and/or a wife is a call. God will never call you to something that He never equipped you for even when it looks like it wa s a mistake. Be encouraged in the Lord. And never give up. Your latter shall be greater than your former! FAITH HEART MAGAZINE l 43