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Child of Promise: One Woman's Journey from Tragedy to Triumph
Child of Promise One Woman's Journey from Tragedy to Triumph Author:Cheryl Green Don't label Cheryl Green. She fits no stereotype. She defies the rules. Born in 1970, she says candidly that she was "a sight to behold." The medical term - arthrogryposis multiplex congenita - is used to describe a rare condition in which her lower limbs did not develop properly while in the womb. Because of ignorance and the stigma of disa... more »bility, Cheryl had to learn how to cope with profound rejection. In her early childhood, she spent a vast majority of her life in hospitals, pored over by doctors more interested in her impairment than her. But you can't label Cheryl Green. She's a person, not a condition. Enter a father who proclaimed himself to be God's anointed one and regularly abused her - further complicating emotional scars from previous sexual abuse by other relatives. Add to that his series of selfish and ill-fated decisions that alienated others and prevented stable employment. Finally, there was a mother whose paranoid schizophrenia destroyed her mind to the point that she could no longer function at home or in the workplace - she would even attempt to kill Cheryl. "I was seven when I realized that my parents were losing their way," Cheryl says succinctly. All the elements were now in place for the middle-class African-American family to plunge into instability, poverty, and homelessness. With her life spiraling out of control, Cheryl lost hope and considered killing herself. What put her life on a different path? Reaching for the source of the gentle whispers in her soul, she developed faith, not in herself, but in God. "It is a daily struggle to leave the past in the past," Cheryl admits. "Not many people blossom in adversity. I am triumphant, not because I have achieved earthly success, but because abuse, loneliness and despair were not powerful enough to destroy or embitter me. In my long sojourn, I have discovered God is never far away." Cheryl discovered meaning, hope, and healing in the arms of God. Her life is proof that there is no sorrow on earth that heaven cannot heal. If you must label Cheryl Green, you can call her a child of promise.« less