Tara's Story.

This girl wrecked me yesterday. This is Tara and this is her story...

She walked into our church and sat at a table by herself. Head down and tearful, I could tell she didn’t know anyone.

She made it to El Paso kind of by mistake; she never intended to be here. But she was here and she stayed on the street last night. A friend that she met on the street directed her to our church for breakfast. A lot of people that come in for breakfast don’t stay; but she did. She went and took a seat at a table alone, and that’s where I met Tara.

I introduced myself and asked her why she was here. She opened up to me immediately and started to share her story. Twenty-seven years old, she had grown up in the foster care system and aged out when she was eighteen. She ran from adoption and the people that could love her because she "didn't need a new family." In her 27 years, she has been the victim of abuses that no person should ever know. She’s learned to run from the people that have hurt her the most and that hard exterior has taught her to be strong. Ironically, the strength that has kept her safe has also kept her from grace.

She walked in with nothing more than what that kind friend on the street had given her, but it was clear that she was carrying the weight of the last twenty-seven years with her. We talked about life and faith and she openly shared with me that she's made a lot of mistakes along the way; mistakes that have gotten her to where she is today. This beautiful girl with the broken heart was carrying the weight of the world and every decision she's ever made.

The Christmas story wasn’t a hard one to share since that was the reason we were at church today. Celebrating a savior that came to forgive our sins; those sins that we can rarely find the strength to forgive our own selves for. She went on to tell me that she didn’t know how to let God forgive her for all that she'd done; that she literally didn't know the words.

In one breath Tara went from saying that she didn’t think she could ever ask God for His forgiveness, to pouring out the most sincere tear-filled prayer of a daughter asking a father to wash her clean, that I’ve ever heard. We cried together. We took communion together. This Christmas, she received the most important present that she’ll ever receive. She was no longer alone; no longer forced to carry around the weight of her own sins. And yesterday, I wasn’t alone either.

After the service, she asked if she could have one of the ornaments from our tree. She wanted to remember this Christmas and the gift that she received. She wasn’t with her two young boys this year, but one day she would be, and she wanted to tell them the story of this Christmas as she hung it on the tree.



Tara has a long road ahead. She has the constant battle of the decisions that she will make each and every day. She is also facing the consequences of some of those past mistakes. But she is now walking into this with hope and a new found family.

Please pray for Tara this Christmas season and always. Pray that she'll get to where she needs to be. Pray for her boys; that although these two young boys don't have their mama with them this Christmas, that they would know that she loves them.

The truth of this story and the reality for us all is the same. We all want to be loved; we all want to be seen. Family is messy, especially during the holidays. The one thing I’m most grateful for is that I gained a sister yesterday.