Yesterday I went to my first counseling session that was just for me.

I’ve previously gone to counseling for marriage issues, someone else’s addiction, my children’s emotional health and to try to get along with my step-father, but yesterday was for me.

I was pretty sure I knew what the counselor was going to say. He would address my codependency, my low self-worth, my fear and anxiety, my depression and control, etc., and it would boil down to advice about trusting God, learning to let go and knowing who I am in Christ. I already know I need to do all of these things, so I was prepared to own them and listen closely for the secret on how to put my knowledge into practice.

However, that’s not what happened at all.

The counselor was impressed with my ability to see all of these things and my intelligence to grasp the truth and even my strength to survive what I have, but his conversation started with asking me to describe my step-dad. He wanted to know what adjectives I would use and what I thought about him. He then wanted to know the same about my biological father and my husband. What did they have in common? How did they hurt me? What was my view of the most important men in a woman’s life?

I wanted to focus on me, but it seems that he wants to talk about my “daddy issues”. This was irritating and I had to process some things last night to accept the fact that I’m going to have to temporarily go backwards so I can permanently move forward. I’m starting my journey from one who survives to one who thrives and the 2 videos I “stumbled” upon this morning illustrated the path so beautifully, that I wanted to share them.

I don’t know if you remember Kelly Clarkson’s song “Because of You”, but that one really touched the brokenness I felt inside and how I felt ruined by another person’s actions. Today she blew me away again with this song:



You can hear the hope of an overcomer in Kelly’s song “Piece by Piece”, but you can still see the hurt, as well.

I identify with pain, but I also believe that I can move from victim to victor. My biological father abandoned me and my step-father abused me, but this next video tells you why I have hope because of my(and your) REAL Father: