“Do you know how I know absolutely everyone is capable of change? I was selling my body for drugs, I smoked, I partied all the time and now...they are allowing me to be the lawyer for this orphanage. If they are trusting me with this, I know anyone is capable of anything.”

This is a very strong independent woman. Her story starts on the streets of Guatemala. She was a severely depressed teenager. In her early twenties she turned to drugs, alcohol and men to drown out the tormenting voices in her head, and to numb the agony she felt daily. She began by solely partying on the weekends..a couple of beers with friends. This quickly escalated to her driving 3 hours every other day to the known party city in Guatemala. She had her choice of drugs that she turned to, but when the money started running out she needed a means to support her habit. She tells me, “I thought, 'Well if I am giving my body away to men already, I might as well get something in return right?” Her first time using her body as a means of currency, it was a barder session. .. she explained to a man, “If we have sex, you have to share your drugs with me for the rest of the night.” When she realized she really could use her body to get what she wanted, she began making the men actually pay her because she was no longer looking to share the drugs. This became a terrible habit she got sucked into. Her body began meaning nothing to her. Men got what they wanted and her price began getting lower and lower as her desperation for the drugs grew and any sense of self respect she had previously had, had vanished.

This went on for about a year until one night she became so depressed with her lifestyle and so ashamed of herself that she called her brother, crying hysterically and explaining she wanted to end her life. He drove to her, stayed with her, and then with the help of his fiance, began slowly bringing this woman back to life.

In the beginning the brother and fiance texted and called this woman regularly. They sent her messages telling her how valuable she was, and quoting who God said she was. They checked in on her to see where she was, what she was up to, and this woman felt unconditional love for the first time. She says, “She (her brother's fiance) would call me and I would be drunk at a bar and she would drive 3 hours to come pick me up and stay with me. She did this a lot and I finally decided, if I couldn't change for myself, I did want to change for her.” Her brother's fiance became a rock for this woman. She was so in touch with the Lord that the woman could actually feel God's presence through her when they were together. She decided in order to fully leave this lifestyle she must get far away from it so she moved in with this woman's family, in this small little town, away from everything and everyone she had previously known.

Slowly change began occurring in this woman's heart. The family started taking her to church with them, got her involved in service by assisting at the local orphanage, and constantly reminded her of her worth. She tells me,  “At first I hated it. People were hugging me and telling me they loved me and would tell me how beautiful I was and I was like 'this is so fake'. But they didn't stop.. and I think it is because they didn't stop that, that is why I finally started believing them that maybe I really did have worth.” Their repetitive uplifting words and actions started breaking the wall off of her heart. The more that wall got broken down, the more room was available for God to enter and begin doing His own loving on her. “God became my best friend. I went to Him with everything. I'd say 'God do I look pretty today?', or 'God do you think I should talk to this person...is this a good idea...tell me what you want.” She replaced the drugs with the Bible, and the men with the Lord.

This woman still lives in this little town. It's been 7 years since she moved there and now.. she has built a real life for herself. She has her own apartment, she went back to school to finish her degree, became a lawyer and within the last few weeks she just finished paperwork to actually save an orphanage from being shut down. How did she manage to completely flip her life? “I found God, and I found love. I love myself now and God is the only man I try to please.”

Check out the word changes website to find more transformation stories...http://www.thewordchanges.com/blogs/news