JOY Stories
Mary Ann
Love Triumphs
From the age of thirteen, I felt used and dirty due to sexual abuse. When I looked in the mirror, I saw a loser, a failure, a mistake, and a disappointment. This self-image resulted in poor and unhealthy life decisions. I often felt unable to cope, and as a result, I looked for comfort from people and things that caused more harm than good. This led to added feelings of guilt, shame, fear, anger, humiliation, and bitterness. It was a vicious cycle.
I longed for freedom from negative emotions and behaviors and a sense of safety that I had at one time taken for granted. Love was the secret longing of my heart, but I kept coming up short. Instead, I continuously lived with feelings of hopelessness. Then one night, alone and desperate, realizing I had exhausted every resource I could think of... I cried out into the night sky. It was the turning point in my life. Answers, as well as healing, came my way from a place I would never have expected.
It started as a normal day at work but then I met Tom. I was immediately attracted to him until he asked me, “What are your thoughts about Jesus?” To stop this conversation in its tracks, I answered, “You know Tom, I tried Jesus when I was a little girl, and Jesus just doesn’t work.” Tom wasn’t fazed. “What, ‘love’ doesn’t work for you, Mary Ann?” I thought back to being sexually abused as a child. The anger I felt toward God surfaced, and I quickly shot back, “What does ‘love’ have to do with Jesus?”
Tom looked at me square in the eyes and shared that there has never been a god who became a man, endured rejection, betrayal, violent scourging, and crucifixion, only to rescue and save the very people who hurt him. “Mary Ann, I don’t know who hurt you, but it wasn’t Jesus. Lost, wounded, and hurting people wounded you. If you run from Jesus, you are running from the only person who can heal you.” That was the beginning of my journey to healing. I discovered that Jesus ‘does work’, and His love has healed every heartache I have endured. Jesus became my first love, and Tom became my second. We have been married for 27 years and have a beautiful family. Now I share the power of God’s love in my story, “Love Triumphs”, wherever I go.
Photos for Mary Ann
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