I grew up saying “I never want to be like my mother.” (I had to learn the hard way that what I spoke out of my mouth would surely come to pass.) I was too blind to see she was doing the best she could, being a single parent with 4 children to raise. I felt like the outcast and acted on those emotions by being very rebellious and growing up too fast.
By 14, I was pregnant. My mother gave my daughter to my uncle and his wife to raise until I graduated from high school. I was furious at her, and I set out to make her life as miserable as mine. I started skipping school, hanging out with older men, doing drugs, drinking…. I was my own worst enemy.
I married my first husband just to get away from home. I finally got my child back, but had no idea how to raise her. I was, of course, too proud to ask my mother for help. I finally came to the end of myself when my own daughter came home pregnant at 17.
I entered the New Life Dream Center in 2000 and began to learn about love and forgiveness. I also found out about the curses that follow those who don’t honor their parents, curses I had reaped.
Today, my relationship with my mother is restored. Not only is she my mother, but she is my very best friend. I now see her as the most beautiful woman in the world. I admire her strength and endurance to withstand the storms of life and be an overcomer. I do regret the years I wasted, not allowing myself to be loved by her, but I thank God for the relationship we have now.
Today, I can say, yes I am just like my mother and proud of it. My granddaughter is the most precious thing in my life. She is with her father who is now a pastor and a wonderful dad. My daughter is going through her own “I-don’t-want-to-be-like-my-mother” stage, but I serve a faithful God, and I know He will restore our relationship as He did mine and my mother’s. I stand today expecting great things and knowing the best is still yet to come!
— Constance C., 2001 Graduate