Looking back over my life, I can see how pain and trauma had wrapped themselves around my story from the very beginning. Born into an era that discouraged affection, I carried the heavy weight of rejection, abandonment, and shame. My earliest memories were of fear, silence, and suppression—being forced to swallow tears, hiding in closets, and growing up in an environment clouded by alcohol, violence, and instability. By the time I was a teenager, I had already endured multiple uprootings, molestation, parental divorce, and a deep sense of displacement.

Yet even in the midst of brokenness, God planted a seed of purpose. At 19, I encountered Christ, and the words of Isaiah 61:1-4 stirred deeply in my heart: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Though I felt far too shattered to step into this call, His whisper never left me.

Through decades of striving, rejection, loss, and self-protection, I tried to make myself worthy through performance and good deeds. My identity was tangled in being needed rather than being loved as God’s child. When leaders I had served alongside for years turned away in my season of grief, my faith crumbled. Depression swallowed me, and I turned from God. Yet even then, He did not turn from me.

In 2017, my brother—estranged for decades—reached out after a dream from God. He became a lifeline of support, and in 2019, I rededicated my life to Christ. Just weeks later, on 17 January 2019, the Lord delivered me from a lifelong battle with depression. For the first time, I tasted true freedom.

When the world shut down in 2020, unresolved pain rose like a volcano, revealing the false refuges I had built. In His mercy, God led me to Elijah House, where deep healing began. Through prayer ministry, I learnt that investing in myself was not selfish but obedience—that God saw me as worthy of care, beauty, and joy. I recognised the lies I had believed, repented for the vows and judgements I had made, and began to embrace the beloved daughter God created me to be.

Generational patterns of trauma and rejection had to be broken. I realised that children inherit not only what we teach but what we live. By drawing a line in the sand, repenting, and asking forgiveness for my ancestors’ sins, I opened the door for freedom in my family line. Already, I have seen the ripple of healing: my marriage renewed, my sons beginning to express love in ways they never had before.

Like Pinocchio finding life in the hands of his carpenter, I have found life in the Carpenter’s hands—Jesus, who cut the strings of shame, perfectionism, and fear. Today I can say with joy: I am home in the Father’s house. I belong. I have identity, culture, and purpose. I am ready to carry His healing to the nations.

🤲🏻Prayer:

Father, thank You for redeeming every broken piece of my story and weaving it into a testimony of Your grace. Where rejection once defined me, Your love has claimed me. Where shame once silenced me, Your truth has set me free. May my life be a vessel through which Your healing flows to the nations.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.