The world had a lot to say about me. They wrote me off, gave me labels, and decided my future for me.
My story began with a foundation of pain. At nine years old, I was abused by my family. By twelve, my own mother beat me and threw me out, leaving me to face the world alone. As I grew, I was discarded by past relationships and stripped of my dignity and even my children. The words of my parents, the judgments of society, and the labels everyone tried to pin on me became the loudest voices in my life. They wanted me to remember all of that. They wanted me to be defined by their opinion and my past trauma.
They called me unrehabilitatable, a menace. They saw a kid with a dark past and no future. I was called suicidal and homicidal. I was considered a threat to myself and others. I found myself in prison and in psych wards. But there was another voice, one I had to fight to hear. A voice that wasn’t of this world. A voice that was always pulling me and guiding me. Without any ideas of who or what this voice was.
The world wanted me to remember the past, but my Heavenly Father wanted me to see the future He had written for me. While they were busy putting labels on me, He was busy writing a new chapter in His book. While they saw a broken and lost cause, He saw someone He had created with a purpose.
It wasn’t an easy journey, but I made a choice to surrender my identity to Him. I decided that the opinions of man, the pain of my past, and the weight of their labels would no longer define me. I chose to believe what He says about me.
And what He says is this: I am restored, rehabilitated, and redeemed.
Just as Job lost everything, only to have it restored, my God has restored all that was taken from me. My children, my dignity, my life, He has returned it all. My story is not one of being saved by a system, but by a Savior. I am not rehabilitated because a program worked, but because I surrendered my life to the One who can make all things new. My sanity is not a diagnosis from a doctor, but a gift from the one who brings peace that surpasses all understanding.
Today, I stand redeemed! I am no longer defined by the things I was called, but by who I am called to be. The labels of the past have no power over me because a new name has been written. And it’s a name rooted in love, grace, and hope.
My testimony is not easy to swallow. One might wonder how I could possibly have this much faith and still believe. The answer is in the Word of God and in what they did to His Son. The same God who did all of this for me is available for you as well. This decision is not for a select few; it is a choice available to all of us. Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and the Resurrected, can save you too. Today, I use my story to help others. I am a licensed Mental Health Coach with a master’s degree. I’m also the founder of my nonprofit, Blue Bag Foundation Inc., and the author of my book, “With a mother like mines.” Now, my life’s mission is to help people like you find their own paths to be redeemed, restored, and rehabilitated.
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