LAUREN’S STORY
L auren grew up in a religious home but never really connected with God. Although she attended church and heard stories about the Lord, to her, He seemed to be a distant punishing ruler, not a loving Father. In middle school, negativity and bad choices riddled
Lauren’s life. Confronted with the choice between right and wrong, Lauren repeatedly chose sin as her friends cheered her on. Slowly, lying, cheating, stealing, sadness, cursing, and anger became the norm in her everyday life, and God faded away to just a distant memory. “My life centered around sin,” Lauren said. “Although I went to church on Sundays sometimes, I didn’t know the gospel.” One night, Lauren decided to join her small group of friends to sneak alcohol and drink together. After a few drinks, a close friend suddenly forced himself on her and took advantage of Lauren. “That was the breaking point for me. Before that, I was fine with all their sin… I was fine with doing all of the crazy things they always wanted to do. But once that happened, I didn’t want to hang out with those people anymore. And it broke me.” Lauren cut ties with all her friends, but the deep pain of what took place that traumatic night still followed her around and filled her with unbearable shame — even though it wasn’t her fault. When a classmate invited her to attend Fellowship of Christian Athletes at her middle school, Lauren felt so hopeless that she figured… why not give God another chance?
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