The God of unfailing love - Erin's testimony of how she came to Jesus and overcame
My name is Erin and i am 19(almost 20) and I live in the United States. This is my story. I accepted Christ when i was 12 years old, but i didnt believe it in my heart.
I grew up in a broken home, my folks divorced when i was only 9 or 10(not quite sure, cuz my memory is fuzzy). My mom started dating men who were not so nice, they would drink and verbally abuse my mom.
As the years wore on, i became an "adult child", i took care of my mom emotionally and put all my feelings on hold to take care of her. During all of this i dove head first into church, i was very active in my youth group and was an honor roll student. This continued until i was 16, when my mom kicked me out of her house and I went to live with my dad. When i moved to my dads, he didnt allow me to go to church or call my friends(because it was long distance). I went into the worst depression I had ever experienced. I OD'ed 3 times, and I was lucky that the last time didnt destroy my liver or kidneys,but it didnt stop there. I became addicted to inflicting harm on myself by cutting. I know that people might say "how can you get addicted to that" but trust me you can; it is addicting because it becomes the only thing that can relieve your pain, but it takes control of your every waking thought, it becomes the only way to tell if you are really alive . For four years this was how i survived, and i have the scars to prove it.
But in the past few months, God has really been working on my heart. In January I went back to church and God led me to seek out an old friend at my church. This man is the first person in a long long time to take the time and listen to my concerns and not judge me. He then took it a step further and gave me bible verses to combat this depression and addiction. My favorite is Isiah 40:4 and 41:10. But God hasnt stoped there.
I am a first year nursing student, I work in a hospital with liver and kidney transplant patients.I have switched from listening to alternative music( which i was into heavily) back to christan music. I am reading my bible daily(which i never did before). I have also been free of my addiction for 2 months, and most importantly I am alive and well and for the first time in a long time I feel hopefull, life doesnt seem so bleek.
For those of you wondering, my past does come back to haunt me quite frequently and i still want to give in to the urges to feed my addiction but now I am not alone( although I was never really alone, i just didnt want to see Gods help) God has given me scripture to combat those thoughts and if I cant think of any God has said here is this friend that I have placed in your path, call him and through him I will tell you the scriptures that you need.
The one thing that I have learned is that God doesnt always make your life a bed of roses, but He always gives us a way to deal with our pain, hurt or addiction. God is wonderful and no matter how far we run or what we do, he will always be waiting for us with open arms and unwavering love.
Testimony submitted to the Breadsite. To submit yours click here.