July 2014 Newsletter

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Triumph Over Trauma

Kristie chose the title to her story, “Triumph Over Trauma”, to describe her present condition as superior to her past. At 24-years-old, she has been through a long, tragic ordeal, going back to her childhood. Home life was mundane, lacking joy and vitality; except when, her parents would go to the garage to party with friends. A natural childlike curiosity led Kristie to search for the source of the only form of happiness she had ever seen in her parents. She found the stash. She followed their example, even after they separated, by keeping the secret for years. But, the behavior led her to using drugs with friends. When she came home under the influence, the habit was exposed. Her father then thought it was better to use drugs with his then 13-year-old daughter, than for her to get in trouble with friends or for her to go to harder drugs. But, it only legitimized the behavior to this child. Her rebellion against the rules of society led her to turn against her parents and all regulation. She ran away and got in all the trouble a wayward teenage girl could find. She stayed here and there and on the street. She shoplifted, sold drugs and worse. She went on a downward spiral, accepting behaviors she thought were not possible. She did not know when to stop, or how. Even after months in jail, she returned to her own troubled ways. She said, “I hadn’t hit rock bottom yet; I was still numbing myself.” One failed step at a time, she had entered into a world of corruption that lasted ten years. Kristie was unable or unwilling to repent. When she had enough self-destruction, she was able to admit, “Every bad thing that had happened to me was centered around my addiction. I got down on my hands and knees in my jail cell and prayed to God, because I needed His intervention in my life”. When she was released from jail the last time, she tried to find her way to Samaritan Inn, but she got lost. She sat down on a curb and prayed not to relapse in her frustration. Just then, someone showed up and walked her to the front door. Kristie had made a decision to turn away from the vises of the world, but she still needed a new model of behavior. She entered Samaritan Inn scared and not trusting anyone. She did not know what to do with herself, or how to live a new life. An environment of acceptance, learning and growing greeted her. The nurturing that she had missed in her youth was there. The calloused layers began to peel away and a new person began to emerge. After a month, she joined our New Life Program. She said that what she really needed was forgiveness for herself and to others that had hurt her. She said, “Forgiveness changed my heart. The night terrors went away. And I wanted to serve others.” Kristie rededicated her life to the Lord. She graduated from our program after a little over a year; it really took that long to firmly triumph over the past trauma. Her Bible verse is Psalms 116:1-2, “I love the Lord because He hears my prayers and answers them. Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!” – The Living Bible. Now, Kristie has had an outside job for a couple months and plans to move out soon. She has been redeemed out of an old nature into a new person.