Hope's Story
I first met the Real Life Team at a retreat where they were speaking.
Two Bible passages stood out from that weekend:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me, and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. -Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you, there is more of God and his rule. You're blessed when you feel that you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by 'the One' most dear to you. -Matthew 5: 3-4 (MSG)
I was very much at the end of my rope and at the time I attended this retreat. I was beyond physically exhausted, emotionally broken, and so conflicted in my relationship with God. I felt hopeless and done with life.
I had grown up in a very broken home, experienced disturbing abuse and was even trafficked as a child. Now, nearly 40 years old, I was still wounded, tormented and unable to find any sort of lasting peace or healing. The lies of worthlessness, rejection, self-hatred, and shame were so embedded in my mind that I couldn't live a life of freedom. I had seen doctors, counselors, psychiatrists, - yet over and over - nothing worked to bring me freedom from the bondage that began at an early age. Numerous times I was told in different ways that it was hopeless. Medications, hospitalization, counseling, coping skills, nothing helped.
When I met the Real Life team, they talked about Jesus and how He came to give Life to those that had none, to set the captives free and deliver the oppressed. They shared their own stories of deliverance from years of bondage, and how they came to know Jesus as their Life in everything. Despite being a Christian for years, I was living a life of misery, bondage, and oppression - I was definitely not experiencing the abundant life that Christ promised, but I desperately wanted to.
So, for the next 3 years, the Real Life team guided me to Jesus. Through prayer, teaching, and cheering me on daily, they led me to the Truth in Jesus Christ.
In many ways, the Lord showed me that He, and He alone, can heal and save. Slowly, but intently, He began to root out the lies I had believed for so many years and replaced them with the Truth of Himself. He showed me the depths of His love and how He chose me and desired to lavish His love on me and heal me so I could enter into a deep, real, and abundant relationship with Him daily. It was definitely not an easy or quick journey, but it was 100% worth it and made me a believer in the God of the impossible. Deeply and personally, Christ became my Healer, my Counselor, my Deliverer, my Friend, my Shepherd, my Husband, my Hope, and my Lord.
Today it is an honor to minister alongside the Real Life Team.