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Woman Freedom From Sexuality Struggle
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Woman Struggling With Depression & Sexuality Finds Freedom In Jesus Christ

by Christel Berns
written by Christel Berns

A woman struggling with depression and her sexuality because of childhood traumas found freedom when she met Jesus Christ.

Broken Childhood

Vanessa Horabuena longed for her mother’s attention growing up. Her parents didn’t have a great relationship either. So, as a child, she always felt unloved. Then her wounds only went deeper when she was sexually abused at five years old by family members.

Photo Courtesy | YouTube – The 700 Club

The little Vanessa didn’t know what to do but kept silent about the abuse. However, it deeply affected her self-esteem and her view of men. Soon, the trauma would turn into anger, and she would lash out at home and get into fights, even at school.

Meeting Jesus

Vanessa’s mother began to worry about her daughter’s attitude. So, she desperately sent Vanessa to a Christian Youth Camp at 13 years old. That’s where she experienced the love of God, and she gave her life to Jesus.

Following the youth camp, Vanessa went home a different person and began seeking God. She also developed her passion for art in the process. Everything went well until years later, her parents separated because of her father’s extramarital affair.

Woman Freedom From Sexuality Struggle

Photo Courtesy | YouTube – The 700 Club

Vanessa struggled with depression as the split of her parents deeply hurt her. She also attempted to commit suicide at 16 years old. But thankfully, her attempt didn’t succeed. Her relationship with God got her through the ordeal, and she soon served in a local Outreach Ministry.

Struggling With Sexuality

But another struggle arose in the middle of Vanessa’s service to the church. She began to get attracted to the same sex because of her fear of men. She had to deal with the pain of her past sexual abuse and traumas. Hence, she left the ministry work and isolated herself for eight years. She also left her passion for art.

Until one day, Vanessa hit rock bottom and decided to have counseling with her senior pastor. That’s when she experienced the remarkable love of God again.

Watch what happened.

Seeing God’s Love Through Painter’s Eyes

Reference | The 700 Club

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High Schooler
ArticlesFeaturedVideo

High Schooler Struggling With Anxiety Finds Peace After Reading A Bible Verse

by Christel Berns
written by Christel Berns

A high schooler struggling with worry and anxiety finds peace after reading the Bible and holding on to God’s Word no matter what she feels.

High Schooler Struggles With Anxiety

Once in Faith Eilertson’s life, worry became her friend. Growing up, she constantly worried about many things especially losing a loved one. She also often worried about the hardships their family would face. Those pessimistic thoughts began to take a toll on the teen’s life. It took over her mind.

Faith’s dad worked as a Marine. Hence, she constantly feared that he would never return one day. Then it got worse when she reached seventh grade and learned that her brother’s best friend had died from an accident. The tragic loss scared her even more.

Later, after half a year, Faith’s grandma also passed away. The loss triggered the anxiety she struggled with because she was super close to her.

“It took over my mind, my actions, my thoughts, what I did, what I let myself to,” the teen recounted.

Breakthrough

For that reason, Faith would often cry herself to sleep. Constant fear and anxiety drove her life for many months. Until one day, the teen decided to join the worship team in their local church. That’s when God began to work in her heart as she realized God’s great love.

Faith began to spend time reading God’s Word and in prayer. She made it her goal to grow her relationship with God. And as she consistently sought God in prayer, worship, and reading the Scripture, the teen experienced real comfort for the first time.

So, it wasn’t long, and Faith surrendered all her worries and anxieties to God.

“He [God] cared for me and He’s willing to take that,” she said. “I could cast this burden on Him.”

And a specific Scripture that God led to Faith eventually gave her freedom. Watch what happened in the video below.

"Just know God's in control, and He has the Master plan." High Schooler finds Peace amidst Anxiety

Reference | YouTube – 700 Club Interactive

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freedom from depression
ArticlesVideo

Woman Struggling With Depression Finds Healing

by Christel Berns
written by Christel Berns

A woman struggling with depression all her life found true healing after she accepted Jesus in her heart.

Depression And Loneliness

Lauren Dunn grew up in a dysfunctional home. Both her parents were alcoholics. They got divorced when she was 3-years-old. Fear engulfed her life as she grew up living with her mom. But time with her grandmother gave her hope, and was a source of love. However, at 10-years-old, her grandmother passed away. Since then, she had felt lonely and depressed.

Following the loss, Lauren didn’t know how to cope with her pain. Hence, the teen strived to become an overachiever to gain love and acceptance. Soon after, she also got into a relationship with someone whom she thought she could fix. A bad breakup led her further down the path of darkness.

Committing Suicide

Lauren felt even more worthless and empty after the breakup. It reinforced the loneliness and depression she was already suffering from. Sshe soon tried to commit suicide by taking pills that almost took her life.

freedom from depression

Photo Courtesy | YouTube – The 700 Club Interactive

After surviving and recovering from the incident, Lauren is becoming an advocate of mental wellness. First, she became a counselor and started working with people to help them overcome life’s challenges. But deep inside, she still hasn’t faced her own battles, and the feelings of depression still consumed her.

THE MAIN SIGNALS OF DEPRESSION + HOW TO FIND HEALING

Until one day, a Christian coworker introduced her to Jesus after he discerned she was hiding in depression. He told her about the love of Jesus, and Lauren felt hope for the first time. Then a time came the Christian coworker prayed for her to accept Jesus in her heart. She knew deep inside Jesus was the answer to everything she was going through. Since then, she has never been the same again and hasn’t looked back.

Watch Lauren’s powerful testimony from depression to freedom in Jesus!

“Life with God is a peace that I can’t explain." - Woman finds Hope that helps her overcome her pain

Reference | YouTube – 700 Club Interactive

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Articles

To My Fellow Struggler

by GOD TV
written by GOD TV

This is a season in my life wherein I am constantly asking God what’s happening within me. I feel tired, stagnant, confused, and unproductive. But just last night, I came across this post by AW Tozer that soothed my soul and spirit, and I want to share this with you:

You are not alone

If you are feeling like maybe you just don’t quite have what it takes, you are not alone.

If you are feeling like motherhood is knocking the wind out of your very lungs, you are not alone.

If you are feeling like all the loose strings are about to come magnificently unraveled, you are not alone.

If you are feeling like you acted like a jerk to your husband this week, you are not alone.

If you are hurting over the haphazard words somebody hurled in your direction, you are not alone.

If you are hurting over the haphazard words you hurled in someone’s direction because you have a real hard time taming that tongue of yours, you are not alone.

If you are wondering where exactly God wants you to go from here, you are not alone.

If you are smack-dab in the middle of a really tough decision and your heart can’t decide which choice to pursue, you are not alone.

If you are feeling like everyone around you is crossing the finish line and you are still trying to get off the starting block, you are not alone.

If you feel like you’ve been called to do something, but the fear of failing makes you want to fall face-first on the floor, you are not alone.

If you are feeling like something must be wrong with you because friendships keep slipping through your fingers, you are not alone.

If you are feeling like things are just weighing heavily on your shoulders right here, right now, right in this moment, you are not alone.

The thing about struggling, the only thing that makes it okay… the only thing that lets me know I’m going make it through to the other side… The only thing that encourages me to keep putting one tired foot in front of the other tired foot… is the hope and the peace and the knowledge of being surrounded by God’s abundant love, of being wrapped up in His unfailing faithfulness, of being drenched in His perfect plan.

The only thing that keeps me steady is knowing God’s hand is all over my life. Whether I am struggling or whether I am thriving, He remains the same day in and day out.

He never struggles, so I am free to rely fully on His strength during the times when I feel like I may collapse if I take another step. He never struggles, so I am free to rely fully on His steadiness during the times when I feel like I am blowing around like sheet of paper in the wind.

Wherever you stand tonight, wherever your heart is, wherever your head is hitting the pillow, rest easy, because you are not alone. Not now, not ever.

I’ll help you, and you’ll help me, and we’ll make it through this thing stronger than ever. Not because of who we are, but because of who He is.

Better together. Always.

Love,
A fellow struggler

– AW Tozer

Note:

We don’t have it all together always. Jesus did not promise us an easy path that is free from troubles, but He does promise us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. This piece by AW Tozer opens my mind to what God is currently doing behind the scenarios that play before my naked eyes. Though I feel like I am all alone in this transition of life, He reminded me that it is He who is holding me. I am being reminded with His Word to, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

This post was compiled by Le-Jovale R. Vallejo.

Aiden Wilson Tozer (1897 – 1963) was an American Christian pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor.  His biography, written by James L. Snyder, is entitled, In Pursuit of God: The Life Of AW Tozer.

 

 

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walmart
FaithLifestyle

Young Walmart Cashier Displays Heart of God; Helps Struggling Foster Mom

by GOD TV
written by GOD TV

Young Walmart Cashier Displays Heart of God; Helps Struggling Foster Mom

At Walmart, it’s easy to get lost in the maze of new and dazzling products, frazzled customers, and long lines. In this frenzy, you might lose sight of God’s heart and be a little less Christ-like than you had hoped. But not 20-year-old Walmart cashier Nicholas Tate.

Nick had worked at his local Newcastle, Oklahoma Walmart for almost two years, but never had he experienced what transpired on this particular Friday evening, as he watched a young mother struggle to pay her bill. This bold young man stepped up in a big way, demonstrating that the heart of God beats even in the most consumeristic, secular box store in America. You will not believe what he did.

Dirty Looks

Wrapping up his shift, Nick noticed his line winding around the corner – a recipe for customer frustration. He continued to work patiently and diligently, even when his own work day had officially ended. More concerned about the customers than the clock, he gave God room to work through him.

One of his customers was an overwhelmed mother with three children. Sensing her distress, Nick struck up a conversation, asking if it was “one of those days.” She replied that she was fostering a baby and, for the first time, she needed to use WIC – a federal assistance program. The trouble was that she didn’t exactly know how to use it.

The transaction was complex because some items weren’t covered by WIC. “She had a good amount of items and most of them went through,” Nick commented. “But she apparently didn’t have the right formula. We had to run a separate transaction for the rest.” The anxious customers in line behind the tired mother were not thrilled, throwing dirty glances in her direction.

According to the weary woman, “[There were] more customers, more grumbling and dirty looks as they moved to the other lane, and I’m frustrated and trying not to cry. At this point, a lady we knew came up and asked why I was causing so many problems. I told her I was just failing as a foster mom because I can’t figure out WIC and almost burst into tears right there.”

To the Rescue

Nick studied the woman with compassion, never once growing impatient. As he called the manager for assistance, he felt compelled to pay the mother’s tab himself. “I already had my card out at that point. I felt like God was telling me to pay for it,” he recounted. “The second [WIC] didn’t work I swiped my card.”

The stunned mother of three incredulously asked him what he was doing as he paid for $60 worth of groceries. It was all the money he had earned during his shift, and he had spent it to help a complete stranger. “I swiped [my card] and instantly she just started bawling her eyes out,” explained Nick.

But Nick didn’t stop there. He then informed her that she wasn’t failing, and that her willingness to care for foster children was amazing. This young man spoke light into a woman’s life, expecting nothing in return.

A Call to Action

Although his random act of kindness has given him 15 minutes of fame, Nick doesn’t believe his generosity makes him special. Instead, he believes he is simply a conduit for God’s love. Nick asked, “When we feel like God is telling us to do something – how many times do we say no?” He continued, “In that moment, without a doubt, He was telling me to pay, telling me these people are in need, to help them.”

The woman did not forget Nick’s genuine generosity. Upon returning home, she realized she didn’t know the cashier’s name, so she decided to share her story on Facebook in hopes of reconnecting with him. After hundreds of people shared her post, she and Nick were reunited.

Not only did she thank him again personally, but she also reached out to his mother to tell her “how incredibly blessed” she was by this “exceptional young man.” After she shared her story, several Walmart managers and someone from WIC contacted her to see how they could help.

Meanwhile, Nick reflected back on this extraordinary encounter, believing that it “confirmed that I’m doing what God wants me to do.” And that’s enough validation for this young man who is truly seeking the heart of God.

No matter your job, position, status, or title, you can change someone’s life – even with a warm smile. Go and be the salt and light of the world!

Walmart cashier helps foster mom

 

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