My friend Shawna gave me my key "strength". I was married to my high school sweetheart for 13 years. We dated 4 years before marriage, waited until marriage to have sex, and waited 5 years to have kids. We did it all right. Christians. Worship leader and Drama Director. We bought our first house all by ourselves. And then our second. Our beautiful 3 boys were born. And one day everything changed. It wasn't always awesome through our marriage. We struggled financially. I stayed home to be with our kids. And I found out he had cheated. Several times. And wasn't planning on leaving her. I waited 1 year for him to come home to me. All the while I kept what was going on a secret from everyone. Hoping he'd come home, and would not have to put myself or my kids through the humiliation of what had happened. He didn't ever come back to me. So I had to file for divorce. At that time, I had to file for divorce.
My best friend got me my key. I wore that thing every single second through it all. Held it. And thought it's crazy it's just a key, but it's so much more than that. For me, it's a reminder of all the people I had supporting me through it. I had God's strength. It took 8 months to get divorced. I was working again and caring for my kids. We had a schedule now for our kids. Life was moving on. But I still wore my key. The chain even broke twice and I fixed it then replaced it. I have since found an amazing man in my life. A great example to my kids. 3 amazing boys who touch my heart everyday. They remind me why I had so much strength. My life has been so happy. I had a friend at my job pregnant. She was so excited. They had been trying for so long. And one day she started bleeding. And lost the baby. I thought this is the time. Give it to her. She needs strength. You need to inspire someone. I gave it to her and told her my story and the story of the giving keys. She held me and bawled her eyes out. I have since ordered another key "inspire" because I want to inspire others. If I can do it, anyone can.
