Beauty For Ashes: A Journey of Healing and Restoration.

There are certain points in all our lives where we feel everything is against us; the odds are stacked, nothing is working out, all our plans are falling through, everything is failing, and that everyone is letting you down. At those moments, when you can’t pull yourself out of the rut you have fallen into, looking for a helping hand is sometimes the only option. That is the option a certain high school girl took when she reached out to tC’s recovery house for girls. Her mom had recently died, her irresponsible father threw her out of the house, and her sister converted to Islam to get married. 

She had been consistently flunking out of high school, had a problem with sex and masturbation addictions and was involved in too many unhealthy relationships. On top of all of that, she suddenly found herself homeless. Her temper grew short, her unhealthy relationships defined her personality and she was certainly feeling hopeless. She was referred to our home at tC and stayed for a while, but then she grew disgruntled and unsettled and left to go back to live with her father, who subsequently kicked her out when she failed her exams again. Out of options, and remembering the safe haven that she enjoyed at the recovery home, she returned on her own accord. The home provided her with tutoring and did everything in its power to prepare her for her re-examinations. Also, she was going through the programs and was slowly, but surely, getting better. She began to realize her worth, she began to temper her emotions and was somewhat giddy compared to how she started her recovery journey. 

When the home received her scores for the re-examinations, it grew anxious and concerned to relay that she had failed for a third time, scared that it might lead to digression into her former habits and temperament. However, they were confident that she was in a place where she could brave many storms but if she wasn’t, that would be indicative of the need for more work and more growth; more recovery. When the home finally broke the news, she took it well. She had a, “we’ll get ‘em next time!” attitude. Everyone was so happy to see her react in such a balanced and mature manner. However, nothing could prepare anyone for what happened two days later when her uncle from her mother’s side passed away. This is significant because her mother’s family had given indications that they will take her in after she had completed her stay at the recovery home, with the uncle the clear proponent of that plan. She was devastated, she screamed, she howled, she called for God who she felt had abandoned her, she was hopeless again. 

Thanks to the skills she learned at the home, she was able to pick herself back up with a gentle arm around on the shoulder from our tC staff. She could have easily fallen back into her addictions for solace, but she didn’t. Within the same week, her father came to the home to take her back home with her sister who had reverted from her decision and was in a more stable place now. This was an easy ticket for her to both get a roof over her head - which she wanted more than anything - and also resume her addictive behaviors. She refused. Instead, she felt that the people at the home had shown her love that no one has ever shown her before, and had given her tools to live her life in a better way, and had genuinely cared for her. She decided to stay on and continue her struggle to get rid of her addictions and to live a better life, to better equip herself for the marathon with God, and with a healthy lifestyle. She is still at home to this day (of writing) and is a beacon of sunshine and happiness to whomever glances towards her. And to think such sunshine could come from such darkness, surely God does work in mysterious ways.