Sharing HOPE

If you would like to share your story and give hope, please feel free to email me don't let the enemy talk you out. Give hope!

THIS IS MY STORY... SHAWN

Age: 26

Hometown: Waterford/Lake Orion

Resides: Clarkston

I AM

SHAWN BAGAZINSKI

AND THIS IS MY STORY

Family was my main struggle. My parents divorced when I was 2 years old. When that happened I lived with my mom and siblings. And not long after, my mom remarried an abusive alcoholic. Slowly in time the alcoholic was also my mother. When I was about 10 years old, my mother was hospitalize. Since she was currently residing at the hospital my sibling and I had to live with my father, his wife and their family. Now mind you, I was 2 when the divorced each other. Never really talked to my father and never had a relationship that I could remember. So living with, yeah I would say it was very hard to adjust to. My life totally changed. The sister I shared a bedroom with, stories, hugs and kisses, I felt like I had abandoned her. I lost contact with my mom’s side of the family. I could remember every Sunday we would get together and just have a great time. Now I live with people I barely know. It was very hard to adjust to so much. So with that, I felt that my friends will be that perfect family I was wanting. Their parents became my parents, their house became my house, and while I was there I was in this somewhat perfect lifestyle. I never wanted to be like my parents, so I learned from them. As I grew up I realized some things, one being able to hold high standards for guys. I wasn’t as comfortable with them because of the absent men in my life. That is one thing I can turn back and say I am glad that my high standards are a reason for protection. Going through a tough time people find ways to vent. And I did just that through poetry, reading, cheerleading, just doing something productive, and of course music. Everything had its own purpose to express myself through it. Poetry was to take the weight off my chest and was my private thoughts. Cheerleading was for me to be happy and just be me. Reading was so I can pretend I am a character in a book. Doing something productive was to make me feel like I am making a difference. And music was my comfort. When I moved to my dad’s house I would cry myself to sleep and asking God, “Why is this happening to my mom?” “Why is she sick?”. Times goes by and as I matured, I realized my mom was an alcoholic. My question then changed into “What am I suppose to learn from this?”. “What is the lesson that God is giving me?” “Why am I going through this?” And he defiantly answered the questions I had. Once I graduated high school. I started coming to Faith Church every week. That led into getting involved, which led into the young adult program they provided. I formed friendships and relationships. I looked up to people as mentors who taught me through bible studies and meetings. God defiantly showed me how to use the things I learned and how I can help other people with my knowledge and my life experience. And I personally think that is what we can to with our hard times and struggles, help other people who go through the same thing. Give them hope, strength, and encouragement. I love talking to younger girls who are going through the same thing. Showing them that God has not forgot about you, there is a purpose for you and the life you are given. Difficult times either draw you near to God, because your looking to him for answers or draw you away from God, because you feel you have the answers. With that being my decision, I defiantly feel close to God than ever. My relationship with Christ is stronger now, I think because the obstacles I was dealt with. I had to look for healing through Christ because my healing is not going to come from any thing in this world like, drinking, partying, smoking, guys, food or shopping. My healing does not even come from the fact that my mom is sober now. Yes, my mom being sober is a prayer answered, but my healing is Christ. I became whole through him. 

With my past experiences, I believe it has given me more compassion for others. I have compassion ,but I have higher standards for those who don’t have standards for themselves. For example, young girls who have divorced parents, deceased parents, abusive or alcoholic parents, who wallow in self pity. I want them to look at it in a different perspective, like what is God teaching me? How can I use this? What is his plan for me? Like I said though, I do have compassion for those. I can understand or relate to what people have struggled or is struggling with. Maybe they never encountered someone with any type of relation to their situation and they feel like it is their fault. I used to think it was my fault my mom was sick and my mom drank. And maybe they are feeling the exact same way and feel like no one understands that because they haven’t dealt with a mother who is an alcoholic and does nothing with her life. That is on the verge of death more than once and hospitalized time after time. I just think that God has granted me a unique ability to reach out to these young girls about this very same situation. To help them and be their journal they wrote in everyday. There are some walls we do need to break down beforehand. For the longest time I had so much pride and did not want to accept help from no one. I learned to accept help because no one can do it alone. God places people in your life  to help you. So in me, I have a drive to help people. Mission work is huge in my heart, and not like just go to Honduras for a week and paint a fence, not that theres nothing wrong with that so please don’t get me wrong, but mission work locally. The bottom line is I just want to help people, globally, locally, in any way possible and make a difference. I think our generation has had the most broken homes, with that we feel can’t do anything of worth. I just want to encourage and tell them that we are the future and we are the difference only if we try. 

I believe where I am in life is because of the Lord. He provided a church family for me. They were always there and picked me up. Their encouragement along the way help me in so many ways. They taught me and gave me opportunities to grow in so many ways. Relying on God and seeking him, asking him to guide me and what steps I should take. Asking him to give me the p to finish college and every life challenge. If I were relying on my own strength none of it would of happened. I wouldn't be where I am in life right now.

My Message of HOPE to you...

God can use you. No matter where you are, no matter who you are, no matter what you have been through, no matter where you think you may or may not be going, God only has us failures to use. He can use all of your situations, all of your struggles, everything you are still struggling with to glorify him and make a difference. Each individual has a unique story. Each individual has a specific calling, a specific task that God has them to do. And everything you go through equips you for that. Never give up and don’t count yourself short. My challenge to you is that you read Psalm 139 and hear what God speaks to your heart.

THIS IS MY STORY... NAOMI

Age: 28

Hometown: Guam

Resides: Hawaii

I AM

NAOMI

AND THIS IS MY STORY


The obstacle I was dealt with three years ago was receiving the news that I had a rare form of lymphoma cancer. Although quite rare, my oncologist said it was a curable one. Great, HOPE!


Before it was known that I had cancer, it started out that I was experiencing extreme lower back pain. My doctors (military) didn’t know what the cause of it was and just claimed it to be muscle spasms. I had to take several x-rays (which didn’t show anything wrong) and several pain medications (which only lasted so long in relieving the pain) before actually getting referred to get an MRI. All the while, I was losing a lot of weight and couldn’t really stomach much when I had to eat. The day finally came for me to get the MRI. I received a call later that night from the Urgent Care Center (UCC) at the clinic. I was told that I needed to get to the UCC as soon as possible, because my L2 (lumbar) vertebra was completely gone and that if I had walked around much longer I could’ve broken my spine and caused myself to become paralyzed. Needless to say, everything happened so fast from that point on. My husband took me to the urgent care, stayed a while to find out what was going on, and then had to go home and grab some personal items, because we were told that I shouldn’t plan on being able to go back home. From that night on so many tests were run that I was getting poked with needles every now and then. Besides the broken back, they also found out I had some kind of bacterial infection. So I was pretty much stuck in a small room and had to be isolated for a while. Because we were stationed in Japan, the hospitals were somewhat limited in being able to find out what my diagnosis was that I eventually had to get medevac to Hawaii to do further tests and get a biopsy done. One stop and two plane trips later (being bed ridden the entire time), my husband and I finally landed in Hawaii. A few days later and after meeting with a bunch of doctors, I was able to have a biopsy done. I was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma cancer. Besides being diagnosed with cancer, I also had to go through major back surgery in order to stabilize my spine. Fortunately enough the surgery and my recovery went well that I was able to try walking the very next day after having being bed ridden for a few weeks. About a week and a half later I had to start chemotherapy, which then had to be done once every two to three weeks. After eight cycles of chemotherapy I went into remission and have been free of the disease for almost two years now. However, I still have a few more years to go to be declared “cancer free”, so I’m still keeping my faith strong.

Although it didn’t hit me right away, I was deeply affected. Having cancer was the last thought on my mind. Everyone I was close with (family and friends) were all affected too, because I’m sure it was the last thing on their minds as well as to what could be wrong. My husband and I were also affected in a way where we had to leave everything we had in Japan behind for a while, even our dog. The only thing we couldn’t get back was the relationships we had built with the people we met there. Yes there’s Facebook, Skype, and e-mails, but those things don’t make it feel the same as it would have been if we were still around. My husband and I dealt with the situation as it came by taking it day-by-day. The major thing that helped us deal with the situation was that we had so much support from friends, family, and even complete strangers (near and far). My husband and I always looked to our faith every day, especially during the most difficult times. Not only was it our faith that kept us strong, it was the prayers from our friends and family that helped us as well. Just knowing that we were in others’ thoughts and prayers made us believe that we were able to fight the disease and make it through. My husband & I were told that there’s a possibility we may not be able to conceive due to the medications I received during treatment. After a while we were both settled upon that idea that we would talk about adoption if it had to come down to that, because we really wanted to have kids. Fortunately for us we were blessed with the news last September that we were three months pregnant. I am now seven months along and getting closer to my due date. We still find ourselves in shock every now & then (even if I made it this far along), because we realize how much we have gone through over the last couple of years. Our little one on the way is the biggest miracle we feel we have been blessed with and we’re definitely looking forward to his arrival!

My message of HOPE to you...

Those going through any obstacle in their life is to believe in yourself, believe in your faith and trust that you CAN get through what you are going through, especially with support from others – family, friends, and even strangers. You might have your really tough days, but sometimes there are others out there who have it even worse. Be thankful that you’re able to live the life you have been given, even though it comes with its troubles.

Why HOPE?

I wanted to start this blog for those who are in need of hope. I am going to write about those who have struggled in many situations and pulled through with the help of trusting the Lord. I hope this brings hope to you that you will one day pull out of that hard time or struggle that you are dealing with and find joy, happiness, and understanding. So, you stay tuned for the wonderful stories people are going to share, and the obstacles they have overcome.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4