From a shy, insecure "church girl" to a trusting and naive young alcoholic/addict's wife, and from religious tradition to physical abuse and abandonment, Starla Rich has traveled a long road from childhood to womanhood. It was a road that began and ended deep within her heart. In the message below, the author invites you to walk along the path of this journey within. Starla shares her experiences with such raw emotion and courageous vulnerability, that you will find yourself not just swept up in her journey, but walking one of your own... We all hurt sometimes and feel lost and alone every now and then. This is why the words on the pages within this book are not unique. They could be your words just as easily as they are mine. Each of us has a place deep inside of us that we call home, a place that we find ourselves far away from on life's journey. The child in us does not die, but simply gets buried under the "stuff" of life. Sometimes, we lose sight of who we truly are. I certainly did. The voices around me became so loud that I barely heard that tender brown-eyed girl's whisper deep inside. Illness tried to muffle it, abuse attempted to stifle it, critics desired to steal it and failure wanted to silence it... Through the writing of this book, I made a choice to open up to myself, to my Maker and to you. This was a journey of transparency in its rawest form. The stories you will read are not so much a snapshot of my life, as they are a mirror. As you look inside my heart, I hope that you will not just see me and my life, but that you will see yourself as never before. For all the good and the bad that is staring back at you, look beyond what you see in the mirror to what is reflected in your heart. It is there that you will find home..."