tamarshope

Its hard to condense one's story to fit a page when there are so many layers to it. In a nutshell; my mother abandoned me as a baby through death. My father abandoned me by allowing his infant daughter to be taken away from him. He found it easier to give up his daughter than it was to give up his drinking.

I grew up in a home of abuse, my surogate mother abandoned me by pretending to not know what was going on. Needless to say I grew up not trusting anyone and feeling used rather than loved. Then as a teenager one night I experienced date rape......my heart became one fragmented, bloody and broken mess.

But God's hand was on me all along.....

Before I allowed God to do a work of healing in my life I did a lot of pretending. Whatever I thought people wanted me to be, that was what I tried to be. I wore many masks, trying to be accepted by everyone. I lived in fear and pain.
And then I met the Healer......the One who became my very best friend.....the One who touched my life rather than my body, and in that touch gave back to me my life. And together we began the journey to emerge from the tangled and dark woods of abuse, into the light of freedom, happiness, freshness, health, self-respect, and peace so that I would never again have to live as a victim.

Abuse is no longer the driving force in my life. Yes there are still moments in which I may recall some ugly memory, and there may be times I still engage in negative self-talk but I also know victory and healing.... and daily with Jesus I am learning to walk out my healing with victory.
"And we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free."