...Seeing signs

The first change that Nadine noticed was that she wasn’t afraid to go back to school on Monday. She decided to change her behaviour and began catching up on her schoolwork. “I was changing and because I stopped doing bad things, trouble stopped coming to me,” she said. “The bullying and name-calling stopped, and rumours died down to nothing. I was attending the UCKG regularly and received strength to stop smoking and sniffing solvents. I also cut the boys and friends off. I learned how to be obedient to my mum and the desire to kill myself disappeared. I felt God was with me in this battle every step of the way.

“At this time, I was leaving school and knew I’d messed up on the exams due to my old lifestyle but I made a vow with God: ‘If I continue to stay with You, I want you to give me a second chance in life because I know I messed up.’

“I applied to do beauty therapy at the higher level at college. I went to the open day and was asked to come back with my grades when I got the results. I’d only managed to scrape 3 GCSEs out of the 10 I’d taken and my grades were not good enough for the course I wanted. However, I believed God would not abandon me as I’d seen signs. When I got to the desk, amazingly, the person said she didn’t need to see my results. She gave me the letter to enrol immediately. I was elated.

“I went to college and after passing the first module after three months I was offered full-time employment with on-the job training in the West End. I applied for film and TV make-up work and got it. Anything I applied for, I got.”

A dream is born

Although happy in her job, a dream was born in Nadine’s heart. “I wanted to work in a school and help young people reach their full potential because of my awful past. I’d been taking my books and CV to church to be anointed and believed God would open the doors. Without the proper qualifications, I applied for jobs in schools. I’m just 20 and am now a teacher’s assistant. I’m really enjoying it and have plans for even bigger things. Watch this space.”

What does Susan think of her daughter’s transformation? “I’m so proud of her and she will always be my baby. She has really been blessed and I know that this is just the beginning for her.”

We asked Nadine for a final word for our readers and we couldn’t have put it better ourselves. “With God,” she said with confidence, “…you have a second chance in life, no matter what has happened in the past”.

Nadine Moodie