The Bible says,"the joy of the Lord is our strength".And I believe that; only I couldn't see any joy in my life at this point. What would everyone think of me if I put a stop to this abuse? It came to the point that I didn't care what anyone thought. My husband had moved out of our home on a Saturday night. Seven days and nights went by. I heard nothing from him. The silence was starting to terrify me.
At 2:30 am, eight days later, I was awakened by the phone. It was him',
crying...telling me he was saved again, a changed man.
He started sending flowers to me on my job and just appearing out of nowhere, begging to "at least" see my son (whom he had adopted). Finally I agreed since I knew my son was probably missing him too; after all, he thinks this man is hid dad. I was working two shifts 7 - 3 and 3 - 11, so I told my husband he could keep my son overnight. This "changed" man suddenly changed again at 7:15 am, the next morning when he called screaming telling me he wasn't bringing my son back. I pleaded with him all day while he threatened" If you ever want to see your son again, you'll talk to me" and " I'll kill you before you keep this boy from me".
It was Monday morning and I still hadn't seem my son. The school secretary stated to me, he was indeed in school, so I went and picked him up. He almost acted like he was afraid of me. Promised my children that day that nothing would happen like this again as long as I could help it.
Of course when my husband realized that I had my son, he was calling with his threats again... stole the lock off of my front door and would take things out of the house to intimidate me  - to prove he had gotten in the house. I thought he would eventually kill us.
But there was hope... my friend gave me a number to the Women's Resource Center, a center for abused women in Beckley, West Virginia. That Monday morning three years and six months after that picture wedding and six months after my husband had adopted my son; I checked in the Women's Resource Center with my son and a trash bag with what i could gather real fast for our clothes. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was leaving my life behind...friends, family, and our church was seventy miles away.
It has been the hope and peace of Jesus Christ, that has brought me through all of this. I spent 3-1/2 months in that shelter and looking back.I can say, It was the smartest thing that I have ever done