Karen's Story
I was born in the Sixties. In those days, if you had a premature baby, you didn't actually get to hold your baby. You were taken and separated from your mum straight away. My mother actually never got to hold or lay a hand on me until I was six weeks old. As a result, I was a very unsettled and traumatized baby. I cried a lot. I couldn't settle. And as I was growing up, I found that it was really hard for me to make friends. I found it hard to relate to people. I was really fearful. The lie that I believed was that I was alone. And I didn't matter. That nobody really knew me.
When I was in primary school, I went to a Girls' Brigade. It had a God-focus to it and I was really intrigued. I was intrigued by the stories that they told about Jesus. One of the special things they did was bring a hairdresser along one night to do a hair washing demonstration. They were going to choose one of the perfect girls. I wasn't one of the perfect girls. And I thought, "Oh wow! I really want it to be me. Please pick me, please pick me." I prayed to God that it would be me. And she chose me! I was amazed. I just remember thinking, "Wow! God actually heard my prayer." This sounds like a small thing, but it's all those little steps that became this journey of wonder. I also went to a Youth for Christ rally. They had them once a month in the town hall. It was pretty exciting. I remember having an encounter with Jesus and I knew that He was for real. I made a commitment to Him and I filled out a card. It was a very real thing. I began to have a relationship with Him in a real way.
One of the things that has been important to me is a scripture: Isaiah 49.1: "Yahweh called me as His own before I was born and He named me while I was still in my Mother's womb." My journey has been a journey of "Who am I? Where am I from?" And I guess it's been a journey of knowing whose I am. The truth that I know now is that God always knew me. He knew me before I was born. He knew me in the womb. He knew me through a traumatic birth. Now I know that I have value because He values me. I know who I am. And I know whose I am, which is actually more important. So, now I want to impart that truth to other women so that they know how beautiful they are in who they are. It's about being set free on the inside and seeing yourself as God sees you.