Dear Courage House family,
Mother’s Day used to be such an awkward day for me. Why would I celebrate someone who would willingly choose to torment and torture me? So, instead, I felt like an orphan. Who would listen if I needed to talk or hold me when I would cry? How could you buy a card and flowers for someone when no one wants you for anything good?
As the days turned to months and eventually to years, I have seen love that can overcome every obstacle, every heartache, and every pain. It is not the love of a human, though they can be wonderful. This Mother’s Day, I celebrate the women that deserve the honor of being called a mother. I celebrate the women who would hold a child as she cried, sing her to sleep, and call her victorious when she feels so inadequate.
I know what it means to be loved, now. But, it is because you took the time to know me deeply and to look past what many could have defined and labeled my life by. When a girl comes home to Courage House, she comes home as a broken child. She watches and waits. She hopes with little girl hope that has been dashed so often. And, then, one day, Jesus will encounter her.
He did this for me in the meadows beyond Courage House. He walked with me as I bravely held my little girl heart out for Him to take and mold, fashion, and renew. It hurt so terribly! And, yet, He is so good and so patient to restore what I believed was lost and broken beyond repair.
It has been a while now that I have had the privilege to know that is not walls that define my safety; safety comes from the choices I make and the people I surround myself with, the people who have become my family. Safety comes from believing I deserve better and acting like it.
Courage House is a place where I came and I found myself. This is where my future and destiny began to unfold. Courage House is a place of healing and restoration, though it may not look like what you could expect or anticipate. Courage House gave me a family. Courage House gave me safety. Courage House is a place where Jesus can take such broken dreams and allow them to gently and tenderly be exposed to a love that can refine it. Courage House gave me a place to heal until I could believe healing was possible and was what I wanted. Courage House changed my life. Courage House will change generations and nations.
With love,
A Courage House girl