From the pain came the purpose
Published:Thursday | April 12, 2018 | 12:00 AM
Though it may not seem unusual for children to grow without their fathers in the home, their absence in the households cannot be emphasised enough.
Take for example the story of Gina*, a Christian girl who grew up with a strict mother and an absentee dad.
"Being raised in the inner city and not having a dad by my side was nothing out of the ordinary for me, because it was what I saw every day. I didn't know that indirectly it would have affected the choices I made where love was concerned.
"My mom made sure to grow us the Bible way, so from a very tender age, I knew what was acceptable and what wasn't, as a Christian. However, it only took one wrong turn for me to mess up the plan I had for my life," she said.
Gina had it all planned out - she was to get through high school, go to college, get a good job then get married and start a family - the perfect life.
"I don't know when things turned for the worse, and down the road to a life of promiscuity I went and I became so helpless. It got so bad that I ended up getting pregnant for a man who I thought loved me and wanted a child with me. However, I was only fooled because he wanted just the sex and not the responsibilities of an outside child, seeing that he already had his own family," she said.
ABORTION
Gina told Family and Religion that she found herself at an abortion clinic, an event which featured the painful realisation of the path she had somehow ended on.
"I needed help," she said, adding that she was left to walk the road of shame and disgrace alone.
She had somehow developed a low self-esteem, thinking no one would ever love her despite knowing she was beautiful and desirable.
The young Christian, who had lost her way, shared that she yearned to end her life post-abortion, but that there was purpose.
"That was when God sent me my now husband, who was my friend of four years. He loved me with all my flaws and he wanted to marry me. The road to recovery was long and hard, but I did it with Christ. I knew deep down inside that I had purpose and what I went through would be my testimony for someone else, so that they, too, can come to find this man, Christ Jesus, who restores.
"From my pain came my purpose and my movement, which is geared towards inspiring females from every walk of life to live a purposeful life and helping them to find true self-worth which only can be found in Jesus Christ," she testified.