When I was 19, I believed I had the world at my fingertips. I had a strong faith in God and was committed to saving myself for marriage. I had just started dating a man from my aunt's church. I was so excited to share my faith with my partner.
How wrong I was. He ended up being the worst one. He took my choice to choose to wait without my consent. My downward spiral began with depression, self-loathing, anger, hurt, shame, and a loss of faith in God. I didn't tell anyone what had happened. At 19, I struggled on my own to deal with all this. During that time, my family described me as a dark cloud. My sister who lived states away knew I was struggling, but not why.
She gave me my key - BELIEVE. She told me that no matter what, she believes in me and knows I have great things to accomplish. For the next 7 years, I continued to fight all those feelings. I was in therapy and finally told my family what had happened. in the last year, I finally took the final step in my healing and restored my belief in Christ. This key meant so much to me and was ananchor I could wear on my toughest days.
Now, I have an amazing job, found my purpose in leading in my high school ministry at church, and am emotionally and physically healthy. It is time to pass it on. I have a coworker who has been struggling with self-esteem after getting out of an abusive relationship. She recently went back to him and is slowly pulling away from God. I passed her my BELIEVE Key for Christmas this year. I hope it can help her on her journey to BELIEVE in herself and God again.
-Olivia
