I have been abused, I have abused. I have been taken advantage of, and taken advantage. I have been promiscuous and pure. I have been redeemed. Made new. My story is not an easy one, but a BEAUTIFUL one. My life was filled with men, clubs, and alcohol. Searching for anything to fill that nasty void inside my heart. It turns out the void is what led me to Jesus. The only thing that was nasty was me.
I had religion. I had rules. I didn't have or KNOW Jesus.
I don't really know when I actually received salvation. I know that I prayed a prayer when I was 14 at a Youth Camp with one of my best friends, Bethany. I can look back and see times in my life when God had His protection over and around me. True change didn't happen until I was 26.
When I was 25 I spent 5 weeks in Israel volunteering for an organization called Shevet Achim (shevet.org). This is where God broke me. He absolutely wrecked my heart. He started to rebuild me from the ground up, from the inside out. He started speaking, and I tried to listen. I started obeying for the first time in my life.
When I returned from Israel I went through an intense healing ministry (iggm.org) called Restoration for 3-4 months. This is where I realized all of the lies, abuse, sin, and choices had been shaping my thinking and my heart. This was emotional chaos for me. In Israel I was a wreck and was for the entire time I was in Restoration.
Somehow, I had joy in all of this. I knew this was refinement. I knew this was good.
PRAISE JESUS!
