Stephanie's Story

 

My name is Stephanie, I just had my thirteenth birthday, I wasn’t supposed to have it, but when I took all those pills, I didn’t die. Instead, I ended up in a hospital on suicide watch crying and wondering why it didn’t work.  What was my mom going to do now; was she going to keep me or send me away.  My dad was in prison, and he had really raised me most of my life; I just spent a little time at moms every year for vacation, but it seemed like we were fighting all the time, but she was all I had now.

 

My dad had been sexually molesting me since I was a little girl, but I found out I wasn’t the only one. My sixteen year old sister and my 22 year old bother were molested before me but never told anyone.  My dad wasn’t in jail because of that; he was in on drug charges.  He was also my connection for drugs the illegal kind that I had been on for a long time.  Mixed with all the anti-depressants I had been on all my life, why couldn’t I die? 

 

My aunt had been to visit my mom and me in Michigan the week before I took the pills. She was worried about my moving in with mom since dad was put in prison.  While she was there she told us about Jacob’s House, a place she had visited in Rosenberg, Texas.  She told us about the young people who had made a big change in their lives through Jesus.  I was thinking, “Yeah right!”  Anyway Mom called her sister and asked it there was anyway I could move in with that Christian group.  To our surprise, when I got out of the hospital the next day, I was on my first airplane ride to Texas for a thirty day stay.

 

The first thing Ms. Penny showed me was a scripture God gave her for me the night before I arrived. Psalms 18.  Yup, it was my story okay and she had written my name by it.  She asked me what I thought about finding myself in the Bible.  I was thinking that she was pretty weird, and it was pretty unusual to think that any God would talk to someone about me who never met me.

 

The whole family including the 9 teens living there took me right in and treated me like I had always been there. I had chores, was home schooled by Penny and went to Church.  Everything was the Bible, and I didn’t get bored, I got born again!...Wow, that was a really great night, and everyday since has been good.

 

I am learning to read; I have my own Bible with my name on it, and in it , plus, I know the real God. I am not as mad as I used to be and my mom promises to go to church with me when I get home.  I haven’t been molested, drunk or smoking cigarettes now for over 6 weeks.  That is pretty remarkable, and since I am not around cussin’ I have even found myself learning new words.

 

My favorite words are the words Ms. Penny prays over me every night. Because of that, when the twin towers went down I knew how to pray.  I led my mom and some other relatives to the Lord over the telephone.  In fact, I was able to tell my story to the residents of The Garden, a homeless shelter and they cried – first , because lots of them had it bad like me when they were kids, and then because we have been given a second chance.

 

Now I want to live until Jesus calls me to join Him in the air; then I will live with Him forever.