Okay! Sorry for the long questions. How do you break free from the fears, self-doubt, and unhealthy patterns that you grew up with? How do you learn to function in a healthy way without losing yourself or the parts of you that you’ve worked so hard to heal? When you come from a dysfunctional family and have experienced trauma, how do you keep those experiences from continuing to control you or hold you back? And how do you maintain relationships with your immediate family when you’re trying to break generational patterns of hurt, unhealthy thinking, and dysfunction? How do you love and have compassion for family members who have also been hurt and have carried their own pain for years, while still creating healthy boundaries for yourself? How do you accept that you may need to disconnect from certain behaviors, beliefs, or dynamics not because you don’t love them, but because you don’t want to pass those same patterns down to your own children or the family you are creating or hope to create one day? How do you heal without feeling guilty for choosing a different path than the people who raised you without them feeling abandoned? How do you honor where you came from without allowing it to determine where you’re going? I also have questions about faith and marriage. What does the Bible say about divorce, separation, and women who find themselves in those situations? How should a woman navigate separation or divorce when children are involved? How do you move forward when you know the situation is dead and the other person won’t understand that. Or when it wasn’t your fault, but you still carry guilt, shame, or the feeling that you somehow failed? How do you protect your children emotionally when their parents are separating while still allowing them to have healthy relationships with both parents when appropriate? And how do you make sure that your own pain doesn’t become their burden? Finally, how do you raise children especially boys to become responsible, caring, emotionally healthy men? How do you teach sons to understand that, as they grow older and build families of their own, their wife and children should become a major priority while still respecting and loving the family they came from?

Hello, my name is Maria. I live in Zion, I attend Garden City Church, and work for the City of Waukegan. I recently went back to school at CLC with the goal of finally earning my associate degree. I’ve hope to grow in my job, but lately I’ve felt like I don’t belong anymore. I’ve been trying to slow down, listen, and understand what God is trying to show me. With His help, I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve learned about myself this year. I’ve always walked by faith. I’ve had difficult seasons, and I know some of my struggles have come from my own choices, but through it all, God has continued to protect me and carry me. I’m truly grateful because I believe He has a purpose for my life. I can feel changes coming for the people around me and myself.

Patience, Discipline, and Confidence for sure! Which I can feel myself changing but still have a long way to go.