Imagine being on the streets at 13. How long would you survive? What lengths would you go to in order to survive? Alone. No money. Abandoned by your birth parents. Abused emotionally and sexually by your foster family.
Day after day. Week after week. Year after year. "Just turn yourself in, Paula." A call home met with the admonition that "you won't make it to your 18th birthday.
Imagine being beaten to within an inch of your life. Predators, a dangerous landscape,
charlatans, manipulators and con artists. A paltry cast of characters who wanted to own you.
Imagine a system whose only answer is a desire to institutionalize you.
This is a gripping true story of Paula. A naïve girl who just wanted to be loved. To one day have a family of her own and to be the best mom ever.
And this is a story of unwavering faith in God. Even when it seemed that all was lost, that there was no hope, that the mean streets were all that she would ever know.
But God and her angels gave her signs. And always managed to show up and provide a way out. Many times providing human angels to aid her and glowing lights to keep hope alive.
Until one day, God gave her a wonderful gift. A man who would become her angel and provide a path out of the streets and the love she craved and deserved. An angel with whom she became the loving mother that she always longed to be.
This story will put you on a roller coaster ride.
Buckle up!
And have a box of Kleenex by your side. You WILL experience every human emotion as you navigate the mean streets with Paula.
But WARNING! This story is raw. This story is graphic. And Paula pulls no punches when it comes to sharing the details of what it took to survive. This extraordinary story will test your ability to empathize, to understand and to believe. But in the end it will renew your faith in human resilience. It will renew your faith in a loving God.