Yesterday I Ran - Today I Am A Warrior

Book Introduction:

I walked away from everything!
I didn't take or steal anything as some have believed. I just left house, cars, furniture, church, marriage and relationships. The few things I took were sentimental and had belonged mostly to my deceased mother.

I had packed slowly for months and everyone knew the day I was leaving. I didn't sneak away! I said, "Farewell!"

After so many years my life as it existed was over! Never would anyone understand the state of despair in which I resided. For years I prayed to die every day! I wouldn't commit suicide because I believe in Hell.
I definitely did not want to go there! I needed to go away...

Jesus tells a story called The Parable of the Prodigal Son. He left over riches…
I left to Live. Suicide had haunted me from childhood.

I worked under a spawn of hell, I had a boss who tried daily to hurt me. After surviving several heart attacks, I sat in the bed terrified of death.
Especially after It came so close to me.
I could feel it lurking near by, one false move and it would have me bound.

When I got ill I was forced out on Workers Compensation from my 28 plus year job. I wasn't too proud to beg, so I begged them! No light duty for me, they just threw me out after I was injured.

By then my hands and arms had suffered injuries from years of repetitive motion. The injuries had spread through both hands, elbows, up into my shoulders and started down my back. I was diagnosed with cervical and thoracic soft tissue damage. I was in constant severe pain. Once I entered into physical therapy they discovered that my left side had a partial paralysis from the heart condition. My lower back and leg had also suffered injury.

I was a wreck, unwanted, over weight, injured and ugly. So much more was going on when my marriage went into full failure. I just wanted to sit quietly in a rocking chair, read a book, serve God, and talk to myself.

My children were grown, my real friends were busy or struggling themselves.
… Momma was in the ground!

I found myself in a foreign land, with all new people. My lips were silent… I just watched and listened! I cried many broken hearted tears daily until I would fall asleep.

I never mentioned God unless asked. I wasn't in the mood for religious discussions. I had already been an ordained Minister for over 20 years prior to meeting them all.

The families who surrounded me and cared for me through my illness and despair were sent by God to make sure I lived. I could tell many wondered… "Who is this strange lady and from where had she come?" While discerning their very thoughts and various reactions towards me... I just smiled. I loved them and they loved me. I had been given a whole new family with aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. All of their friends embraced me and added me to their hospitality.

Spiritually I was lost in a place far away from my Father's House.

Forgiveness and healing started forming in me when I realized… I had been clad in new clothes, a Robe and a Ring a Strength from above. I was no longer afraid to die. I was ARMED by God.

I was no longer a prodigal daughter but I had become a Warrior. Injured in battle I had earned my “Purple Heart!”

Book by: Barbara Nutt-Duffey Hammonds
Book: Yesterday I Ran Today I Am A Warrior
Prodigal Daughter Book Series