Hi and welcome back to my blog!! (I’ve always wanted to do that lol). Quick shout out to the people who are subscribed and if you aren’t already yoou should!! You will be getting notified whenever I post whether i’m in the states or not you will be reading about my experiences during my trip, and you probably won’t want to miss that!
Ever thought of how blessed you are? Some people are and don’t even realize it. I didn’t either until I was having a conversation with one of my great friend and leader (She’s amazing) talking bout you Brittany M. I’ve been through many things and I’ve overcame many things but it would’ve not been possible if I didn’t have such a loving & full of grace Heavenly Father. I call Him a blessing because of how good He is, when we feel alone He’s there “Don’t fear, because I am with you;… Isaiah 41:10. He is our comfort,strength, healer, and our refuge. Too me He’s everything I’ve ever need.
But it doesn’t stop there. One of the ways I’m preparing myself for this trip is going through a 12 week program called “Freedom” at our church and also doing counseling. It’s hard but I am grateful because God blessed me with the leaders and the community that I have. Sometimes we come to a point of “do we even matter” and we do matter, God gives us all a purpose. When I was 14 I felt like I didn’t matter anymore, I always thought that God hated me because while everyone else was happy and doing great. I wasn’t. See at young age my innocence was stolen. I was sexually assaulted multiple times for a period of time by a family member whom I thought loved me but he hurt me instead. He made me feel like I didn’t matter. Every night I would cry myself to sleep, I would often cry out to God and ask Him not to wake me up in the morning. I was so devastated and hurt by what he had done to me.
The moral of this part of my story is that when we go through rough seasons in our lives we begin to believe the lie that we don’t matter anymore. “The enemy comes to steal,kill and destroy John 10:10”. I believed and carried that lie for 4 years. It changed the way I lived my life and how I saw life. I began getting into “drugs”. Yes it wasn’t the best choice but that was the only way I satisfied my needs. Point is sometimes we let those lies control and affect us. We start making poor decisions. It’s not our fault these things happened, God never intended for this to happened but it did.
“To enter through me is to experience life, freedom and satisfaction John 10:8”
February 6th 2019 I finally decided that I no longer wanted to carry that lie of not mattering anymore. Those chains fell and I was free!!!! I began speaking truth over myself and experiencing Gods love, purpose and comfort to fill that satisfaction. I started experiencing life, freedom and satisfaction that His word said.We all matter, we are chosen, called,loved and known.
During this trip I believe God will use my story to minister to young women who have dealt what I had to deal with. I am not ashamed or guilty for what happened. It’s part my story that I get to use to show how God used this to begin my freedom journey.
~Jo
