11/05/2021
My name is Karri Jo,
The woman I am today was not the woman I use to be.
My whole life I looked for guys to fill this emptiness I felt in my heart, I soon found myself dropping out of high school at 16 and I became pregnant at 18. I gave birth to my twin boys and found myself being a young single mom. Luckily, I had my dad helping me with every step. Having my boys brought so much joy in mine and my dads’ life.
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Then tragedy struck our family, and my dad was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
It hit me so hard. I had never been alone or ever without my dad. I hit a deep depression and just stopped caring about everything. I stopped being the mother my boys needed, the daughter my dad needed and the friend I needed to be.
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I began seeing a guy who brought adventure into my life. I stopped coming home. I found myself getting into drugs and next thing I know I lost everything. My boys went to live with my friend, and I was just so lost I didn't know who I was. I was whatever someone else wanted me to be. No matter how much I missed my boys it wasn't enough to stop. The relationship I was in consumed me. 3 years went by, and that relationship found an end and then another one began. It was worse and more abusive than the last. I was lost and scared. One day I walked 11 miles to a family member and met a man who I didn't know but that would help change my life forever.
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I hit my bottom. I didn't want to live that way and I wanted my children back!
I knew what I was like to grow up without a mother I didn't want my boys to.
The man I met that day was Pastor Lens from House of Nam church. My family all knew him, and he brought me to Fort Worth Teen Challenge May 18th, 2020!
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From that moment little did I know my whole life was going to be changed. The Lord showed me who He was in a way I knew He was real. I gave my life to Jesus Christ and the work began. My deepest hurts began to surface, and the Lord walked me through those hurts and sat with me in those moments of pain and sorrow.
It took me some time to open and let my guard down. I never trusted woman well and I lived in a house full of woman so a lot of “iron sharpening iron” took place but it changed me completely, I began to let my walls down, I began to trust, I began to love, I was taught how to be a friend and what I true friend was.
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I am not the woman I once was. I'm not afraid to be vulnerable and let people see how big my heart is.
I gained a lifelong sister to do life with and how to live life with the Lord.
I am now fully back with my children and doing what I was always afraid of doing being a mom. I'm not perfect but what I have learned from my time here, I'm now able to apply and instill into my boys’ lives.
I now have the strength and courage to be a single mom and give my boys the life they deserve.
Today I am a daughter of the Most High.
I am not what others have defined me. I AM what the Lord says I am and that's His.
Proverbs 31:25♥️
"She is clothed with strength and dignity and can laugh at the days to come."
That emptiness that I once felt is gone, I am whole because the Lord lives inside me.