My story — running, and being found
“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” — Psalm 27:10
I spent most of my life running from God. Yet, as far back as I can remember, He was always pursuing me.
As a young girl, I remember sitting alone at a school event. Looking around, no one from my family was there to support me — my parents were abroad, and I felt utterly abandoned. But in that cold, lonely room, a song began to play: “You are not alone, I'm here with you.” In that exact moment, God met me. He spoke comfort directly to a heartbroken child.
Without my parents, I was exposed to severe hardship and abuse. I was shifted from place to place, subjected to violence by family friends, malnourished, and beaten on the floor simply for saying “no” to sexual abuse. Through youth homes, betrayals, homelessness, and even being fired from a job at 16 for refusing a boss's unwanted advances, I wandered through a dangerous world.
Yet, God's hand never left me. Psalm 27:10 says, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” He proved that truth over and over. When I was helpless, He sent strangers — His angels on earth — to speak words of encouragement to me in Jesus' name.
Still, I kept running. I tried to fill the empty spaces with relationships, trying to fix a void only God could heal. Finally, weary from the chase, I broke. I prayed the sinner's prayer, laying down every burden and sorrow at the foot of the cross.
God answered immediately. That very evening, I met the man who would become my husband. At first, the speed of God's answer terrified me — I was so unaccustomed to pure grace that I tried to run again. But God walked us through the valleys together, refining us, leading us toward righteousness, and eventually uniting us in a Christ-centered marriage.
Today, Jesus is teaching me who I am in Him. Everything good in my life is His doing. To every woman reading this who feels forgotten, abused, or weary from running: God sees you in your darkest corner. You cannot outrun His grace, and your story does not end in the valley. He is restoring you, just as He restored me.
