2 / 5
The exact moment
The scene, as it happened.
At twenty-three, I decided to attend an Evangelical church. I still remember my first day. It was pouring with rain when I walked in. When I came out, the sun was shining. Maybe someone else would call that weather. I didn't. At church, a woman named Vanessa was assigned to help me understand my faith. She was incredibly patient with me. But I was still immature, and I was attached to all the wrong things. Parties. Boyfriends. Expensive clothes I didn't need. Working just to afford those clothes. Trying to teach myself to like alcohol because somehow I thought I was supposed to. I was looking for happiness everywhere except where I needed to look. Looking back, I think part of me was trying to destroy myself without even realizing it. Growing up had been hard. Friendships had been hard. Relationships had been hard. Sometimes simply existing felt hard. Something inside me had switched off. For a while, I stopped feeling much of anything. And then, seemingly from nowhere, God started putting the right people in my path. The woman who encouraged me to find a babysitting job was truly motivating and inspiring. She pushed me to take action, and I eventually applied, joining a family as a babysitter. Her support and motivation made a big difference, and as a result, I looked for and found babysitting work. The first family loved me enough to recommend me to another family. The mother in that second family was kind, ambitious and inspiring. Talking to her made me want more for myself. She encouraged me to find a "real" job. She also convinced me to leave my flatshare because I lived so far from work that I was constantly late. So I moved. And in that new flatshare, I met a man. My future husband. One woman led to a job. The job led to another woman. She pushed me toward a career and a new home. And that home led me to the man I would marry. Random? Maybe. But I don't believe it was.
