Grace. Such an amazing word. "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." The impact of those words never really touched my heart until about five years ago when I gave my life to Christ and I realized the amazing meaning behind the word GRACE. You see, I grew up as a statistic just like a lot of poor teenage girls did, and still do. Until five years ago at the age of 39 when God got a hold of my life, I had lived a life of constant failure. I couldn't escape my past. It wouldn't go away no matter how hard I tried to ignore it or get away from it. I kept reliving the same mistakes and failures over and over again. That was the problem, in all actuality. Until I was ready to stand up and face my past and work through the pain I lived through, I would continue to live in a cycle of failure. I grew up on welfare and lived 'across the tracks' for most of my teenage years. My parents divorced and my father walked away. That wasn't such a bad thing though because he was never really a dad to us even when he was actually in the home. It was freeing for me when he left. I went wild and started my teenage life of rebellion. I had my first son at the age of 16. Four years later, I was pregnant with twins and lost them both at different stages of my pregnancy. I was promiscuous with sex throughout my life due to my father struggling with sexual sins and introducing them to me. I have been married and divorced multiple times. I was diagnosed stage III cervical cancer at the age of 22. Due to all the emotional pain I held inside throughout my life, I eventually started using drugs to find happiness. Surprised, aren't you? I became a hopeless drug addict who was just trying to kill the pain I was living with inside of me from years of stuffed hurt. I was just looking for an unconditional love to fill my heart. Then one day, I had a life changing encounter with God. I had an experience so powerful that my life has been forever changed. He is continually changing me and growing up in Him Until that day when I met Christ, I was just a girl who had traveled down many destructive roads due to my rebellion, anger, and obsessive need to feel loved and accepted. Believing that I would never be able to be loved...I felt I would always be doomed to live a life of misery and hopelessness. However, I am no longer that girl and I am no longer ashamed of where I've been. I have finally come to know and accept God's wonderful grace, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness in my life. He has shown me how he has protected me and saved me numerous times...even in the midst of all my rebellion. I'm hoping God's story of my life will touch your heart and reveal to you that there is NO sin that he cannot forgive, NO emotional wound that he cannot heal, NO life he cannot redeem for his good if you just seek him. Will you ask him to help you and allow him to work in your life? God pursues you. He loves you. God has a purpose for your life. God also has a purpose for my life...I just didn't know it yet.