"Remember the prophecy God gave in Hosea: To those who were rejected and not my people, I will say to them 'You are Mine.' And to those who were Unloved I will say: 'You are My Darling.' And: In the place where they were told, 'You are Nobody, ' this is the very place where they will be renamed 'Children of the living God.'"
- Romans 9:25-26 The Passion Translation, words capitalized for emphasis
To the Unloved is a book intended to be a warm hug for people who feel forgotten, never-good-enough, and not-quite-right. This is for the ladies whose trust has been betrayed and whose hearts have been mishandled. For those who were treated like a burden and feel like they are hard to love. I wrote this book to encourage God's daughters to deal with their half-healed wounds and begin to live a life that is untarnished by the past.
This was written from the perspective of a homeless, abused child to offer hope to all other "no-bodies" and tell the reader: You are NOT unloved. You are NOT forgotten. You are "somebody" to God. Your Heavenly Papa calls you His Darling. You don't have to live in shame anymore. Your experiences can shape you for the better, not for the worse. And finally, because of Jesus, it is never too late to be who you might have been.
To the Unloved is unique in both its tone and perspective. I am not trying to be an "ivory-tower teacher" here or someone who claims to know everything. This is a conversation from one friend to another, offering an empathic embrace through words. I was physically and sexually abused by my birth father for the first 17 years of my life. My mother knew, but because of some wounds of her own, she pretended not to notice. My father's abuse, and the total lack of protection offered to me at the time, completely hijacked my identity. Being so unloved covered me in shame like black, grimy scum invades a shower, and I wore it every day from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, felt it through and through, spoke from it, and walked in it. No matter how much I scrubbed and tried to get it off, it stayed stuck to me. Only the blood of Jesus can clean such a mess. Only the Lord in His infinite wisdom and unbelievable kindness can help a person sort through the damaging effects of abuse. Throughout every chapter of To the Unloved, in big ways and small ones, I delicately share details from my own experiences and every step I took with God as He healed my life.
As I wrote this, I imagined my younger self, my mother, my older sister and other beautiful women I know who have struggled to escape their own "shower-grime shame." I consider it such an honor to share a truth so pure with ladies like them: Jesus loves you and He makes you good enough. You may have been treated like your name was Nothing and felt Unloved your whole life but these labels have never been who you truly are.
In my own experience, when you come from a family where everyone is broken, someone must be the first to step out of it. To the Unloved reaches out to readers and reassures them that healing is possible. Everything changes when we tell God, "Here, take my broken life. I believe You can do something beautiful with it."
Even if you began your life at the lowest level of society - neglected, abused, and forgotten - there is hope. Because of Jesus, you can win the struggle against shame and have a brand-new life. You can become the person you always hoped to be!
