My name is Darneda and before coming to Christ, I was extremely hopeless. Ready to give up. I needed God to step in quickly to save me. I needed him to prove himself to be real to me ASAP. I was 17 years old with a beautiful baby girl to take care of. Her father and I have been together since I was 13 years old, and he was 15. I was being raised by my grandparents, and he was being raised by his grandparents as well at the time. We both had lots of trauma at the time our daughter was born. We live in this one-bedroom apartment in New Orleans East together engaged to be married at some point, but I knew when he asked me I had to find a way out quickly to protect my daughter from a lifetime of abuse. He started abusing me at 13, physically, emotionally, and sexually plus he started forcing me to smoke weed. I somehow thought it was love since he and his family brought me things, plus he was always sorry. I was used to people abusing me in all those ways while living with my grandparents. I didn't know anything different at this point. I was like, at least he said sorry and gave me a gift afterward. Oh, how broken was I to think this was a better love? Finally, one day in our small apartment kitchen he was so mad at me for whatever reason and pulled out a gun to kill me and the bullet missed me and hit the stove, then the pantry door, and then into the floor. He grabbed me and hugged me so tight because he realized he also shot me in the stomach. It had to be ONLY GOD who saved me that day! The kitchen was too small for the bullet to miss me. I was ready to die, and I thought about using drugs stronger than weed, but I didn't. Days later, he was out selling drugs, and I was alone with our daughter. I started crying out for help. Paula Write was preaching on the TV, and I was sitting at the edge of the bed watching her while my baby was in her crib. And I said God, if you are real, prove yourself to be real to me, and I gave my life to Jesus Christ right there on the edge of the bed. I felt peace all over me. I will write a series of books at some point to share my full story...Fast forward to today, God has healed me from ALL of the afflictions. My therapist years ago said someone had to be praying for you because the amount of trauma you suffered you should not be in your right mind. You should be in a mental institution but THANK GOD somebody was praying for you. All the affliction made me who I am today. So, I thank God that I was afflicted because I now know it's all used so that he may be glorified. I was able to trade my nothingness for everything in Christ. He has filled me with peace, hope, love, and joy plus a boldness to proclaim the good news.