At one point, Christina Meredith screamed questions many of us have asked: “How could my Father in heaven allow me to suffer this way? God, are you there?”
I remember the email. It was from a friend I hadn’t seen for some time. He told me about a young woman who had aged out of the foster care system and who had won Ms. California. But she was homeless in LA and needed a place to stay until she got on her feet. “Do you know anyone who can help her?” he asked.
It hit me in a way I’ve learned to listen to, as though God might be speaking to me. For more than a year, my wife, Tori, had been telling me she was feeling more and more of a burden for kids who age out of foster care and who have nowhere to go. Many end up in prostitution, sex slavery, or other horrible situations, as they’re too old for the system to help them but not really strong enough to be adults and make their own way. We had made some inroads into that world, and Tori had begun working with some organizations. We had been asking God to open up opportunities for us to help more foster kids.
I felt this might be the next step. Here was one of those young people Tori was wanting to help. I called my friend and asked if I could speak to the woman who had reached out to him and who would serve as a reference for the young woman who needed help. He put me in touch with Betsy, and we had a long conversation about Christina. She told me her story, and I was moved. I asked her about Christina’s trustworthiness and character. Tori and I were considering opening our home to Christina, and since she would be coming into our home with our young daughters, I wanted to make sure all would be okay. She assured me it would. The next step was to interview Christina. After that, it became clear to me that God was leading us to invite Christina to live with us for a while.
What I didn’t know was what the next step of her path might be, or how I might be able to help. I felt like there wasn’t much I would be able to do for her other than to offer her a place to live while she got on her feet. But at least we could do that much. I had a strange feeling I was supposed to do something more; I just had no idea what that was.
It wasn’t long before I found out.
First, Christina’s life story is incredible. She endured abuse at the hands of her mother, having been singled out as the “bad sibling” and essentially forced to wait on her family as a domestic servant. She was sexually abused for years by a family member and not given justice by a legal system.
Second, as terrible as this was, God intervened. He had shown himself to be real, to move on her behalf, to supernaturally speak to a homeless teen living on the street and tell her that one day she would be a leader to other abused homeless children, write a book, and speak to thousands. This inspired me. It reminded me again of what I’ve seen God do over and over again in what feels like the worst of situations: show himself to be real and come to the aid of the suffering and oppressed.
Third, I quickly learned that Christina was certain that God had spoken to her, that one day she would write a book and use that platform to help foster kids. But she had hit a wall. She had tried to pursue her dream, but time after time an agent and publisher had rejected her. She was at a dead end. She had nowhere to turn and no clue how to get a book published, but she was certain that God would open a door. At that moment, it all made sense to me.
Though I had felt there was nothing I could do for her, it became clear as day. I just wanted to laugh. What a God we have! Here was a young woman who had hit a door slammed shut on her dream of getting a book published, but she hadn’t given up on God. She just kept praying. And he just so happens to drop her into the home of someone who knows a little bit about getting a book published and who knows some people who could quickly make this happen.
I just smiled. I remember saying, “This is funny. I had no idea how I might help you, but I can at least do this much. I will connect you with my agent. She’ll love your story, and you’ll be off and running.” I had no doubt.
So here we are, book in hand. It all came true. It has been exciting to watch God fulfill the dream he gave her when she was on the streets—abused, homeless, and helpless. It has been inspiring to see her faith lived out through a difficult journey of trauma healing, closed doors, poverty, success, and multiple restarts with an unwavering commitment to helping those who have suffered as she did. To me, this book and her story reveal the truth of how she is a living example of Paul’s description of what God can do with the pain in our life:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4
Truly God has done this in Christina’s life, and Christina is doing that now. God rescued her from horrible pain and abuse, and God comforted her. And now she is doing the same, comforting others with her story of hope and victory. Her wish for this book—and mine as well—is that it will move you to be part of the same story God is writing for you, no matter which part you find yourself in now. If you are hurting and hopeless, let her story lead you to the God who promises to bring you to a better place and who will do for you what he has done for Christina. Use your experience of suffering to help others who are hurting. There is no greater fulfillment than to see God move in our lives and to be used by him to help someone else. Thank you, Chris, for your story. And thank you, God, for always being there for us and desiring to help us.
God bless,
Dr. Henry Cloud
Beverly Hills, California