Yet as I walked the avenue again, it wasn’t the same, and I knew I was too tired for that. I left there and set out for the only place that I knew there were no drugs…

The rest of the story…

Click here for the first part of the story.

Yet as I walked the avenue again, it wasn’t the same, and I knew I was too tired for that. I left there and set out for the only place that I knew there were no drugs, and that was on September 10, 2013. I have been clean ever since.

My friend at Shepherds Door called me a few days later, and although I was trying to get into a different treatment center, she had been praying for me all the while. I entered Shepherds Door’s New Life Recovery program October 8, 2013. When I got there I finally figured out what was missing, and that was so crystal clear to me now. Jesus, I was missing Jesus. I rededicated my life to Christ at Shepherds Door, and my eyes were opened to who Jesus is. I finally started understanding the Bible, and I began getting a new lease on life.

I began working on my trauma as well, something I never wanted to do, and never had thought about doing. Holding on to my pimp for all those years made it difficult to process my trafficking, and I never realized why I kept getting high. I have been set free, and I have a new life in Christ is so many ways.

A Trial date was set for January of 2014, but at the review hearing in November of 2013 the judge set the trial over until March. I was in disbelief that the life that I had written off was now coming back. I was still not 100% sure that I would get my daughter back but things were looking better.

In March of 2014, the Judge dismissed the termination trial, and the child welfare case became a return to parent case, and just this July she was returned to my care. “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away: may the name of the Lord be Praised” Job 1:21B The Lord did he gave her to me as a blessing, and he saw how I was living and he took her away, and then he blessed me with her again.

I cannot say enough about the Lord and how he healed me. Also if it was not for the church, and the support I receive from my mentors on just how to handle children, or how to cook, or the rides I receive. I wouldn’t have any people to call right now when times get tough, besides Jesus of course. But when times get tough, and they do, because there are still times when I feel like this is too much I want a drink, or a pill to ease the pain, and I call a friend from church or my mentor and they can pray with me, or quote scripture, and that may be all I need.

All my life I had been searching for anything to help me overcome my past, and set me free. I had searched everywhere, and all the time Jesus was there waiting for me, rescuing me while I was out there on the cold streets, and I left him, but he never left me. Jesus was what I was searching for, and because of him I have a new me. I no longer live in bondage to my pimp, or to my past. My anger no longercontrols me as it once did. I have new relationships with people I would have never sought out before I began walking with Christ. When people ask me today what is different this time, I just simply say, Jesus.