Shame on You: Rejected but Not Forgotten

By Elizabeth F. Christensen

The next day, the women woke up at noon. They were still talking about the wonderful party. They had arranged with the kitchen to serve leftovers for brunch in a picnic basket.

They decided to eat in the garden with the ocean view right in front of them. Gloria felt as if nothing ever could go wrong for her again. She was mentally trying to capture this moment as a snapshot in her mind.

After the brunch, they met Mr. Shepard in the hallway. He told her that, now that she had received her new name, he wanted to take her to a new level in her life. He wanted to introduce somebody important to her. It turned out to be seven women all standing on a line in the hallway, but she could not see their faces because they were all covered behind veils. Their dresses were all seven different colors.

Gloria was wondering what this was all about, but she knew by now that her father always had her best interest in mind, which made her relax, but it did not prevent her from being curious.

The seven women were connected to seven doors here in the cottage, Mr. Shepard explained. Every door is leading into to a room, with seven different challenges. You have to pass one before you can go on to the next. If you should want to procrastinate, you will have to go through it later on. Remember that its a test and that you've got what it takes. The challenges you will face are made specifically to fit you. But they have been carefully planned to challenge you as well, to build you up, and to make you stronger no matter what you might face behind a door or what you feel about the challenges. If it doesnt challenge you, it doesnt change you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512787870

Elizabeth F. Christensen

Life threw me several curve balls, one after another, in a frantic pace. I decided to grab them, by the grace of God, one by one and to translate them into a creative and a constructive substance. As a born again Christian, I am obligated to share my story with as many as possible. If at least one person is encouraged by it, my struggles and trials have not been in vain. I am 52 years old, mother to 5 children, 34, 30, 21, 18, 15. I live in Denmark but is originally born in Nigeria, adopted by a danish missionary. I have passionately worked with mental ill people for 6 years, until I was involved in a car accident in 2004. After I recovered from the accident, I have been sharing my faith and my testimony’s on Facebook for 6 years now. Encouraging Christians all over the world, to know and understand there identity in Christ Encouraged by some of my readers I boldly decided to edit a part of my postings and turned them into a book.

Book preview

SHAME ON YOU

REJECTED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Elizabeth F. Christensen

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Copyright © 2017 Elizabeth F. Christensen.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8788-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8789-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8787-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017907877

WestBow Press rev. date: 6/6/2017

Scripture taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used with permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

Christian Literature International (CLI) is a non-profit ministry dedicated to publishing and providing the Word of God in a form that can be read and understood by new readers and the well-educated alike… and at an affordable price. We invite you to learn how the NEW LIFE Version unlocks the treasures of God’s Word!

Contents

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Dedication

I wish to thank my Sister for believing, trusting, and praying for me while I was writing this book. My mother who was a patient listener when I read out loud my ideas and helping me with the formal s tuff.

Shame on you was initially created for my Facebook audience in a more brief version. Thank you to those of you friends who encouraged me to write a book. The highest praise and worship belongs to my Lord and heavenly father. This book had never been a possibility have it not been for that miraculously healing in 2012. After the accident where the verdict was hovering over me like a bad nightmare. I was unable to read, write, reason, remember, learn or think sound thoughts. I know that this book is inspired by the holy spirit. And I hope from the bottom of my heart that at least one person will be touch, moved and healed, by the spirit behind the message.

Elizabeth F Christensen

Chapter 1

S hame was a girl who seemingly had no future, if you asked her family. They had rejected her in her early teens while growing up in Outcast. A large city at the bottom of a valley, it was surrounded by mountains that appeared to reach up into the sky. The scenery was dark, sinister, and gloomy, and the atmosphere was depressing; a massive, thick, grayish cloud or shadow of pure evilness hovered over the town.

When they realized that she in no way resembled her siblings or parents, they simply cut her off, both emotionally and physically. She was through and through a dreamer. She was very creative, outspoken, and naturally inventive as well. Shame was on the chubby side and not very tall. She had plenty of freckles and frizzy red hair. Another reason for her family to reject her was that her appearance was remarkably different from the rest of the family. This actually had left her wondering for years if she was a misplaced child swapped at birth or even adopted. It was as if she came from a foreign country with a foreign language that they did not understand. But the answer was straightforward. She was, in fact, their very own flesh and blood. The answer was naturally making the way for a new question that was haunting her night and day. Why? Shame was not aware of the fact that her way of thinking and reasoning was very different and far from their level of knowledge and understanding, which was why they did not know how to communicate with her in the first place. Secondly, they were simply jealous of her. Even they could see that there was something special about her, if they had to be honest. This activated a destructive, aggressive, and bullying attitude toward her. She became a dangerous threat to their pride and vanity—common enemy that turned her reality into her versus them.

In order to minimize and avoid the uncomfortable feeling of loneliness and isolation that had become her trusted friend for so long, Shame tried hard to fit in, in order to please her family. But it turned out to be a huge struggle and a waste of time, energy, and breath—with no success at all. It had made her feel unwanted, as if she were a heavy burden and an eyesore. She tried to suppress everything that she was by denying herself the luxury of nurturing natural growth and developing her spontaneous, curious, and creative nature. But even if she had tried harder, it was impossible to keep down her growing appetite for life and to hide her natural ability to follow her instincts.

Despite the massive struggles and hardships, her family was willingly providing for her in unlimited measures, the outcome was inevitable. Somehow a blessing in disguise.

In the end, they decided to send her to a remote part of the country, to another town called New Beginning, which was a very long way from Outcast. It seemed to be a million miles away. They decided to hand over the responsibility for her further upbringing to her mother’s sister. She too had been victimized because of her flamboyant nature, alienated from a quarter of the family. This meant that she had lost much contact with the rest of the family too.

Shame did not perceive Aunt Joy as a punishment. From her point of view, it was to the contrary. She was a most wanted and sought-after source for unconditional peace, love, and good fun. She was what you would call a big mamma. She was recognizable from a distance with her polka-dot silk scarf tied to her head, her many custom-made hats, and her white apron on top of her dresses of many colors. She had never been married or had her own children. But this was not an indication that she did not have what it took.

The quality of her nurturing and caring skills was over the top. People who got in touch with Aunt Joy were not the same when they left her. Her tangible influence on young people was out of this world. In her younger days, she was engaged to be married, but the young man died in a car accident right before the wedding. Although she was completely devastated, she managed to stand firmly on her faith, which saved her.

Out of the ashes of her personal loss and grieve, she developed a bubbly and joyful character with a huge heart that was able to empathize with young people in great need. But that newfound character was exactly what a part of her family disliked about her. It should not be possible to overcome that kind of tragedy the way she did in a relatively short amount of time, they said to themselves.

It was not by choice that she still was a single, but as time passed, she never found a suitable man who could replace the late love of her life. Aunt Joy was busy with church activities, sharing her love with anyone who needed it, and now happily embraced the challenge in raising her niece. Aunt Joy’s cooking skills, among others, were above average. People were willing to drive for hours just to taste her home-cooked soul food in her little diner, Your Favorite Dish, situated in her converted garage. Once you had tried it, you just developed a craving that was hard or, more accurately, impossible to resist.

Shame quite liked her a lot. In fact, she was happy for her new environment. It was so different from what she was used to. But despite the love between them, Shame was a tormented young girl. Her past was messing with her mind. She remembered very well that she had been rejected, and the pain was excruciating. Aunt Joy encouraged her to do her very best in school and then some, as she constantly reminded her of the truth. No one can take away from you what you know,.

Aunt Joy wholeheartedly committed to providing genuine soul care for her niece, which did wonders to her withering soul. Because of the effort invested and despite her anguish, Shame now relentlessly committed herself fully to her studies. Her determination provided her, surprisingly to herself, with new strength, purpose, and energy. She was doing very well in school, but she still wasn’t courageous enough to open her heart up to any of the other students.

Aunt Joy had introduced her to church life, and even though she was not used to it, it kind of grew on her to the extent that she loved the hymns more than anything else. They filled her heart with peace and joy, while they also, unconsciously and slowly but steadily, began to mend the deep cavity in her heart. Her only problem was to understand the sermons.

Chapter 2

A s the time drew nearer to Shame’s high school graduation, she looked back at the time she had spent at Divine Junction High School—which had been a wonderful educational greenhouse for her—made her feel very grateful but also emotional. She remembered very well her first school day when she was a perfect stranger to all the students. How awkward and humiliated she felt as they all looked at her when she was being introduced. She thought that she would never measure up to all those fine-looking young people, and she was sure that they could see right through her and discover all her dark secrets. She was struggling, while trying her best not to burst into tears or to throw up right there in the audito rium.

Shame was smiling as she acknowledged the amazing, tangible progress in her life. She had come a mighty long way. Suddenly, she recognized the beauty in the blessing in disguise. Had her family not rejected