Storyline Fall 2020

Belief
If you had asked me in March, when all of
this COVID stuff began, I would have told you
I wasn’t going to still be alive right now. Selfisolation
for me has always been a warning
sign that I was having a mental health crisis
– one of the last stops before I start thinking
the world would be better off without me in
it. And in this case, self-isolation felt more
like solitary confinement. But it turns out,
COVID-19 was one of the best things that
ever happened in my life.
I’ve been an on-again off-again Christian
since I was a little girl. Growing up, if my
family went to church it was probably
Easter or Christmas Eve. When I turned 18
I started investigating a friend’s church and
got involved with the young single adult
group. The more time I spent in this group
the less time I spent with my family and the
more time I spent with a couple of the men
“Don't you believe?”
Mark 10:51
in the group. One night, I decided I wasn’t
ready to go home and instead hung out at
the apartment of 2 of the guys. It wasn’t the
first time I had been there late, it had always
been OK. But that night, one of those men
assaulted me. I was convinced that no one
would believe that he had done that. We had
a previous relationship. He was well-liked
and I was new.
I don’t remember a lot about that night
– that’s a blessing. I have a vivid memory
of feeling God’s anger, though. I don’t
remember how I got home but I remember
sitting in the hallway in the dark between
my parents’ room and the bathroom trying
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