My mother had drink problems and there was a lot of domestic violence

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

‘My mother had drink problems and there was a lot of domestic violence. I had three brothers who were heroin addicts. One died. To me, it was normal. We were happy enough. I never believed in God. I thought the Bible was a book of made-up stories that you tell to children. I believed in aliens.

‘When I was pregnant with my second child, I found my niece hanging from the bannisters. Two months later, my Dad died. I really disbelieved in God then. I came close to killing myself. My partner had a really bad cocaine addiction. It was really difficult.  

‘But in September 2018 his Gran asked him to go to church. He came home crying, really happy. I said, “Be careful with those people”. The first time I set foot in church I had the feeling that something was going on here. I asked myself, “Is this stuff from the Bible true?”  

‘Smoking weed used to be my coping mechanism. I was reliant on it. Change didn’t happen overnight, but in the last year my life has completely changed, turned around.  

‘The verse that has helped me is Proverbs 24.16, which says, “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” At the start, a couple of times I went back to smoking weed. After, I was regretful. But I kept getting up. God gives us the strength to keep going, keep trying. God forgives me. It’s been amazing.’

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