PHILIPPIANS 4:13
From the time I was conceived, no one ever wanted me. My mom, who was a drug addict, tried to have a miscarriage while she was pregnant with me. After I was born, she didn’t feed me, so I was placed in the hospital for not growing properly. She would leave me with people I didn’t know for days at a time. After my brother was born, our mom continued to do drugs and leave both of us at home alone. I had to be my brother’s mom, even though I was just a baby myself. Our neighbors would call the department of social services, and when the workers arrived, I would lie for my mom. I would say she didn’t use drugs and that she didn’t leave us alone. Then they would check us for bruises on our bodies—but they couldn’t see the bruises on the inside. What I didn’t know then was that God could see them and His plan to heal them was already in motion. He was with me and my brother giving us strength to make it through.
Kristin Abernathy, 16, New Covenant Christian School, Pageland, SC
Life can be so painful, God. Give me
strength to make it through whatever I face,
because I know I can’t do it without You. Amen.