Destiny's Hope

Everybody has a destiny, it may take a while before we get a glimpse of what our destiny may entail but it is there for every one of us.

In 2010, on a Mission trip to Cambodia, I was certain my destiny had just been lit. I had a burning desire to return to Cambodia in the future and help save as many women from sex trafficking as I possibly could. Seeing the look of terror and pain on each girls face broke my heart and at that point I knew that God was calling me to save these girls; to be a voice to the lost and broken, little did I know what the coming years had in store for me.

Heading into my final year of high school, I found myself in my first relationship. For most people this is an exciting event in their life which they can look back on fondly, however, this was not the case for me. As a little girl growing up I had always dreamed of meeting the perfect guy, getting married, having kids and doing it all in the order God had planned for us. Unfortunately life had a different plan, my first relationship turned into a series of abusive events, my innocent life, my childhood dream was quickly shattered.

I found myself pregnant at the end of Year 12, feeling shocked, confused and unsure how I would cope. At 10weeks I miscarried, which as painful and devastating as it was, I look back now and think.. I love my baby, but it was for the best after my partner had threatened to beat it out of me if I didn’t abort.

Following the miscarriage my life just seemed like a huge tornado, a life of dreams destroyed. Alcohol quickly became my escape, a way to numb the pain of the miscarriage and abuse I had endured. My first partner completely stripped me of all self-confidence, self-respect and self-love which saw me looking for love in all the wrong places.

Little did I know, I was now 3months pregnant and as shocked as I was, this was possibly the miracle that saved my life. My son is nearly 3 now and I honestly don’t know if I’d be here today if it weren’t for him. The pregnancy quickly grounded me, helping me mature and see that there is hope and God always has a plan.

As the birth of my son quickly approached, I found myself in a new relationship. Everything seemed perfect, my gorgeous child was soon to arrive and I had a caring, supportive partner. However, following the birth of my son, unknowingly to me, my partner returned to drugs and his behaviour progressively got worse. With each passing day came more abuse, more manipulation, more lies, each time trying to escape it but getting sucked into the abusive relationship cycle.

It wasn’t until I found evidence I was being cheated on that the relationship was finally able to come to a close, or so I thought. A week after the breakup, I found I was pregnant again. Something he’d always talked about us doing and so as you naturally do, I told him about the baby which only made my life worse.

Here began the extensive death threats, the stalking, the extreme fear for my children and I’s lives. We quickly moved, sought the necessary help from Police and other domestic violence organizations and have since restored my families safety.

I thought I’d been through hell with my first partner, but this was next level. I really had no idea how we would survive or how I would cope being a single mum of two, but we welcomed my second son in 2014 and he was the perfect addition to my family of three.

It is through the birth of my boys, that Destiny’s Hope has been founded. I had midwives share with my mother and I that they have young mums like me come through, give birth and have nowhere to go, the midwives simply would drop them at a bus stop and pray they would be ok. It was in hearing these stories that I knew I had to do something. I am blessed to have my families support behind me, I couldn’t imagine doing all this without at least having them.

So Destiny’s Hope is starting out as a blog, where I can share my journey, my highs, my lows in a way to hopefully bring inspiration and encouragement to others who are possibly facing similar things. In the future the goal is to see Destiny’s Hope grow into an organization which can provide housing for girls and their babies who have nowhere to go, where we can take them in, help teach them how to be a mum and help get them discover there true Destiny.

5 years ago if someone had told me this is what my life would look like, single mum of two with an extremely abusive past, I would have told them they were crazy. It’s not at all what I thought my Destiny was, but I can tell you, no matter what happens, no matter how much your plans change or are altered, there is ALWAYS hope. There will be brighter days, remember, there is always a rainbow after the rain.