For those of you who are Catholic/believe in God

I will never forget a day just before Christmas last year. It was a Sunday afternoon, and my narc and his brother and foster child had just brought home a Christmas tree next door, even though he had promised he would do this with my daughters and me. We left our dark house and took a cab down to St Peter's in the Loop, here in Chicago, downtown. It was freezing cold. I used to go there at lunch for Mass when I was a single girl, and my daughters quietly sat that day while I just kneeled and cried. When we left, I had the strength to come out and to get through Christmas with him literally abandoning us. He left us home on Christmas day and went to a friend's house. We were all alone with no dinner, no family or friends, and no one but us. We read from the New Testament and made soup and made a pie. My seven year old said, "It feels like the church we went to last week." How sad that your so-called boyfriend shows you the true feeling of Christmas by abandoning you.

Yes, yes. Every morning I open my eyes, try to remember what terms the N and I are on, and then pray like a maniac to be released from his spell. I've had many, many moments that have kept me sane, and right now I'm at the point, thank God, where I realize there is something in this I need to learn before it's over. I have taped on my front door the prayer of St. Patrick: "Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ above me, etc." It's like going into the gates of Hell just leaving the house to take the kids to camp in the morning. Life is NOT supposed to be like this, I thought. But the more it goes on, the more I've thought that--just maybe--life is more of a battle with the Devil than I ever imagined.

Thank u for that I too go to bed everynight asking God in the name of Jesus to heal all of us and help us find peace and to give us strength to move on and have a better life than ever!!! xoxoxoxo

Thank you Ninja. You are a wonderful caring person. xoxoxo only one way to go...Forward (tm?)

That's a beautiful story. As a Catholic, I can see why you chose St. Joan, the strong saint. She was definitely a French Ninja Girl! Nobody messed with her. Even when she was wronged, she rose from the ashes. She who was denounced as a witch, as a heretic, as crazy... she's now a saint in Heaven. Be strong! God is looking out for you. During the D&D, I remember going in tears to the Carmelite chapel nearby. Between the library and the lower dorms, there was a field that was usually full of scrubgrass, bushes, a tumbleweed or two. But during the D&D, that field was filled with at least TWENTY kinds of wildflowers, a wild array of color. I picked the flowers and put them before the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. During my 4 years there, it was the ONLY time that field was full of flowers.

Thank you so much for praying for us NinjaGirl! That means a lot to me! Happy1

Thank you, NinjaGirl. What a beautiful and thoughtful thing you did today. Thank you!

I am not catholic but i sincerely believe in the power of prayer. Thank you for praying for us.