When Monica was thirteen, she was sexually abused by a foster care giver’s husband. She was threatened by the husband with a shotgun if she was to tell anyone. Fearful for her and three of her older siblings lives, she didn’t tell anyone and remained a victim for seventeen years. At the age of thirty, she met someone and told him of her situation and the person convinced her to escape from the perpetrator.
For seventeen years, Monica was experiencing the feelings of fear and anger and hatred and revenge and shame and guilt. However, through the Lord’s Prayer, she was given the greatest gift…the ability to forgive. Now, she’s no longer a victim but a victor in her life. Instead of letting the traumatic event pulled her down, she become a stronger and more resilience person. Through forgiveness, Monica was able to let go of the negative past and the negative feelings that were associated with it. She no longer allow negative event to have control over her life. As Viktor Frankl stated “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
So, now Monica doesn’t just survive; she thrives and lives a life full of love and compassion and joy and peace. She feels blessed and doesn’t blame her past because it has brought her to where she’s today. Her desire is to turn the negative event into something with more positive impacts by being able to share her story and hopefully will make positive differences in people’s lives.
Yes, something can still thrive and become beautiful and fruitful even growing from mud.