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Issue 1| 2023

Your Life Has Purpose

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Graced for Success<br />

THE STORY OF LATOYA WILLIAMS<br />

In the early 2000s, I began a long journey of<br />

redirection. It started with one step, then a series of<br />

steps until finally, I arrived in a spacious place where<br />

today, I am passionately living out my God-given<br />

purpose and helping others do the same (Psalm 18:19).<br />

God’s love and grace rescued me from the powers of<br />

darkness that had held me captive since my youth<br />

(Colossians 1:13).<br />

Did I deserve His kindness? No. I had<br />

rebelled early in life and trampled His<br />

gifts, especially the gift of loving parents.<br />

After eighth grade, I ran away from home<br />

and dropped out of school. I wanted to do<br />

things my way.<br />

My parents tried desperately to get me<br />

back on track, but I ignored them. My<br />

only focus was making money. I imagined<br />

it would give me the freedom to do<br />

whatever I wanted. So I found a place to<br />

live with a relative and got a job at the local<br />

Burger King.<br />

Every morning I rode my bike to a place<br />

that tells its customers to “have it your<br />

way.” Well, having it my way might have<br />

been desirable for a hamburger, but not<br />

in life. I needed God’s way, but it would take<br />

years of hardship for me to figure that out.<br />

Selfish desires, irrational decisions, and<br />

a lack of direction carried me into dark<br />

places where I experienced much physical,<br />

emotional, and mental pain. It still hurts<br />

to revisit that time of my life.<br />

By 17, I was pregnant with my first child.<br />

I had an on-and-off relationship with the<br />

baby’s father and gave birth to two more<br />

children with him in the next couple of<br />

years. As often happens to baby mamas,<br />

the father gave no support.<br />

I did my best under the circumstances,<br />

but the weight of raising and providing<br />

for three children was a lot to carry.<br />

Not to mention I was far too emotionally<br />

im mature to care for them properly.<br />

How thankful I am for immediate family<br />

members and community programs that<br />

provided support.<br />

One day, a case worker knocked on my<br />

door and told me about a program that assisted<br />

parents with young children. This<br />

program would allow me to attend a local<br />

community college and obtain my GED<br />

PHOTO BY GERI SIMPKINS PHOTOGRAPHY<br />

16 <strong>Issue</strong> 01 / <strong>2023</strong> VICTORIOUSLIVINGMAGAZINE.COM

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