My Unfolding Journey to the field of daffodils

By Bethany Katherine Steamboat

One Woman's Inspiring True Story.

In this riveting book you will learn how one woman's courage arose during an extraordinary time to protect her children at all costs from a relentless perpetrator and unbelievable abuse. Her faith in God and His faithfulness to them during this time was remarkable as He always led them one step ahead of th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Sep 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647734978

Book preview

Pittman_FrontCover_Version1_8.15.20.jpg

My Unfolding Journey

to the field of daffodils

Bethany Katherine Steamboat

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2020 by Bethany Katherine Steamboat

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Legal Disclaimer: I have tried to recreate events, locales and conversations from my memories of them. In order to maintain their anonymity in some instances I have changed the names of individuals and places, I may have changed some identifying characteristics and details such as physical properties, occupations, and places of residence.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

B-ISBN#: 978-1-64773-496-1

E-ISBN#: 978-1-64773-497-8

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the survival and overcoming strength of women and children who have been abused and betrayed. The Lord wanted me to write this book to encourage you to keep the faith. What the enemy has meant to be your regret and failure, the Lord will turn around to be your triumph. May the Lord be with you and heal you, spirit, soul, and body, and protect you through it all.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my friends Kim and Amy for their faithful and consistent friendship to me, along with encouraging me to write this book. I also would like to thank my family for their encouragement and help in writing this book. Last but not least, the precious Holy Spirit that kept prompting me to write more, and kept bringing all these things back to my remembrance. Thank You, Lord, for all You have done for us, and for the promise that You will never leave us or forsake us.

1

Point of No Return

It was early Spring of 2005, about two o’clock in the afternoon, when I found myself sitting in front of the desk of a senior prayer minister. I had been called from my work station to go talk to my supervisor’s supervisor. She was the senior prayer minister for the ministry I worked for at the time.

My feelings were ambivalent as it was a privilege to be called to speak with her, but why was the meeting called? I had a lot going on in my life at that point and was anxious to hear what she had to say.

When I entered the room, she was cordial and we had some small talk. Then she said, The reason I have called you here today is that I have just received word from the daycare center. This ministry had its own daycare center where the employees could take their kids while working.

She told me this was not going to be good news. I have heard from the supervisor of the daycare center that, Zack, your son, needs counseling. He is being suspended from the daycare center unless you can get him some professional counseling. She then said, I have recently met a great professional counselor, she and her husband are believers, they may agree to counsel Zack. I was then dismissed to go back to work. As I was walking out, she added that I should not talk to the kids about anything that was happening, or had happened to them. I didn’t question this as she was my senior supervisor and I had much respect for her.

I was baffled as to why this was happening. My heart sank in anguish. A thousand thoughts bombarded me. Questions flooded my mind as my heart broke for my precious son who was about nine years old at the time. What had happened to him and when, but more than that, who?

As a mother, I loved my son and wanted to protect him from the time of conception, but what my supervisor was telling me was that somehow, someone had gotten to my son, and whatever they did caused him a lot of unhappiness.

I was so heartbroken for him. The thought darted across my mind, had I not protected him as I should have? Still, the questions were looming. I was told not to talk to either of the kids about any of this for a very long time. So, I couldn’t even go home and ask them anything on this subject.

I decided to talk to my brother, Dwayne, about it as he was my closest relative at the time. Dwayne was several years older than me and when we were young, we were not close, but as we got older, in our twenties, we got closer. We were currently living in Collinsville, OK and had been for only a couple years when this happened. All my family lived in other states except for my brother.

Later that evening, while at home talking to my brother, I received a phone call from the counselor and she agreed to test Zack to see if he did need counseling, and to see what the problem was. We set up a time the next day for not only Zack, but also my daughter, Brittany, to be tested. I’m not sure what all the testing included, but I was anxious for it to happen. Maybe all of this was a mistake and they misinterpreted Zack’s actions that day at the daycare center. Yes, hopefully, all of this will be over soon and the nightmare will stop.

The testing was set for noon the next day. We were to meet at the ministry building, as it was a safe and familiar place for the kids. They went in together but they were separated, and then brought back together toward the end.

I didn’t see them until we were ready to go home and the testing was over. But as I was told before, I could not talk to the kids