Beautifully Broken from Darkness to Light: My Testimony

By Annabella Alessandra-DeJesus'

Take a look around. People are suffering everywhere; the effects of sin is undeniable. Women and men alike are hurting, lost, broken, and desperate for a solution to what seems to be a hopeless situation in their lives. Life will knock you down and keep on beating you until you have nothing left but perhaps a tiny fragment of hope. You may feel like you have been defeated, deeply wounded, and scarred by those closest to you. Maybe you even feel that there is no reason to go on living. Do any of these sound like you? You may feel as if you are all alone, stuck in an endless cycle, with no way to escape the chaos and darkness of this corrupt and fallen world. What if there was a way, would you want to know?Take a look into this woman's testimony to see how she was saved from rejection, depression, worthlessness, addiction, betrayal, physical and sexual abuse, and even suicide. Witness the courage and strength God gave her to not only get through the most painful and agonizing time of her life, but to come out victorious on the other side, as she surrendered her life wholeheartedly to Him. Through her story, experience the goodness of our God as He transformed this shattered woman and gave her peace, a renewed passion for life, healed her heart, and made her whole through Jesus Christ. Learn that our God is good, faithful, and full of grace, mercy, and compassion. Know that God will do the same for you if you will just accept Him and let Him into your heart. There is only one question to ask yourself: Are you ready to make the choice, to step out of the darkness and into His magnificent light?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098041915

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Beautifully Broken from Darkness to Light

My Testimony

Annabella Alessandra-DeJesus'

Copyright © 2020 by Annabella Alessandra-DeJesus’

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Meet La Familia

Raised Roman Catholic

I Just Don’t Fit In

How I Met My First Boyfriend

I’m Trapped

Is This Love?

My Happily Ever After

Lights Out—My Darkest Hour

The Road to Healing and Restoration

Put On Your Full Armor

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

—Psalm 147:3 (ESV)

Iwould like to dedicate this book to all those who are struggling in the midst of darkness. To those individuals who feel all alone, stifled, and trapped. To those who have been broken, betrayed, rejected, abused, mistreated, and are at the end of your rope. To those who have lost hope but are still hanging on, looking for a way to peace, true love, and joy. There is a way to achieve this, and it is only through Jesus Christ. It’s time to let go and let God take over. If you are anything like me, you have tried to rely on your own ability and strength, and have failed miserably time and time again. I pray that my testimony will encourage you to put your trust in the only One who could bring peace, restoration, and a new life. No matter how worthless you may feel, I want you to know that you are completely loved and accepted by God. It took me a long time to accept this truth for myself. I hope and pray that you will make the decision to experience His goodness and faithfulness for yourselves and if you haven’t already, to come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

I also would like to dedicate this book to my husband, Sam. The road that led us to where we are now was rough and difficult. The healing process was heart breaking and very challenging at times, but our God is good! I am so thankful that I’ve come to realize that no marriage is perfect, and neither is any human being. We live in a broken, sinful, and corrupt world that is controlled by the desires of the flesh. Forgiveness and love are a choice, and we must demonstrate love and grace to others, like God has shown to us. I can say now that I’m so happy that neither of us threw in the towel. We didn’t give up on what God had united so many years ago (Matt. 19:6). As we continue to put all of our trust, hope, and faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ, we have experienced blessings after blessings. With the help of our pastor, marriage counselor, and a couple close friends and family members, we have built a solid foundation in our lives, individually and as a couple in our marriage. This foundation is based on the Word of God with Christ as our cornerstone (Eph. 2:20–22). Now with God front and center of our lives, I’m so happy and excited to step forward to what He has next for us. I love you, babe!

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you

And give you peace. (Num. 6:24–26, ESV)

Introduction

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. (Rev. 12:11, ESV)

The first forty-one years of my life has had its ups and downs; that’s for sure. For the most part, I lived a sinful and corrupt life. I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior in the early years of my marriage, but it wasn’t genuine; it was on my terms. I didn’t make Him Lord of my life; I had to be the one in control of everything. It always had to be my way, or I wasn’t satisfied. I was completely blinded by the enemy and was consumed by the world. I wanted to have the best things in life to make me feel worthy, like expensive cars, jewelry, clothes, shoes, and handbags. I kept up with the fashion trends and had the latest makeup tricks and hairstyles. I thought all these things would make me happy; but still I experienced sadness, loneliness, and had an emptiness or void in my heart that could not be filled. I longed to be accepted and to fit in, sometimes sacrificing my integrity in the process. I put my trust in people, especially those closest to me, and ended up hurt every time.

This book is a testimony of the goodness, faithfulness, mercy, and the grace of our loving God. How I found Him again in the darkness and surrendered my life to Him wholeheartedly. How He brought me from almost death to life as He picked up all my broken pieces and put me back together as a stronger individual in Christ. I am here to tell you that in the most tragic and desperate time of my life, He was there. He was there when no one else was, when I was utterly broken, shattered, and dying inside. As I gave myself to Him more and more, and focused on Him daily, He gave me an unexplainable sense of peace. He filled my heart with His love and saved me from depression, anxiety, betrayal, rejection, worthlessness, physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, alcoholism, PTSD, and suicide. The life I live today is a result of God’s great love that He has for us.

I think we can all agree when I say life is hard. We are all struggling with our own battles; it is a constant fight as we go about our daily lives. We must realize there is a spiritual side that is invisible to us. Although most of us can’t see into the spiritual realm, we have an enemy, Satan. He is always lurking around, waiting for opportunities to destroy us and those whom we love. Whether we like it or not, we are in a spiritual battle and must protect ourselves. The Bible tells us that our fight is not against people, but the enemies of darkness.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the