Touched By An Angel…Sort Of
I think there is a little part of each of us that loves cheesy TV shows, sappy movies, and corny characters. There has to be – how else have sitcoms lasted this long?
Jenna Lane’s life has never been short on drama – if not less than idyllic – and according to her recollection, it all started when she was six years old. She has many memories of her mother screaming, often for things Jenna could never comprehend. And one day, after frantically following her dad to the end of the driveway as he got in a car to leave, she begged him to not go. Scared that she was the reason he was leaving, she promised she would be good and not do anything bad ever again. Like many parents the world over, her father knelt down beside her and promised her that this had nothing to do with her; he would always love her and always be there for her. Matthew, her little brother, was 4 at the time, and all he could to express his shock and frustration was to kick his dad and run away, leaving Jenna there to beg her father to stay. But for reasons she was too young to understand, he couldn’t stay, and as his car backed down that long driveway, Jenna ran behind it screaming and pleading for him to not leave her behind. But he was gone.Turning around, she walked back into the house and asked her mother why he left. Her answer dripped with venom.”Because we’re not good enough. He didn’t love us.””But he just told me that he loved me,” she tried to reason with her mother.
“Well if he loves us so much, why is he leaving?” she retorted. “He was just trying to get you out of the way so he could leave.”From that moment forward, life was never the same. Years of physical and emotional abuse followed Jenna, as she tried to live with her mother. Clearly, she was too sick to be able to take care of her children properly, but love from a child runs deep, and for years Jenna would put up a front to not alert her teachers or caregivers that there was a problem in their home. Despite her best efforts, her mother’s attacks were relentless, random, and above all, intentionally hurtful. As she grew older, she would try to leave, but her mother would threaten to kill herself and the guilt weighed so heavy on Jenna that she agreed to stay, despite the hurt.Night time was the most painful time: it was when all the comments and hurt would torment her mind, questioning her worth and self esteem. Being told, time and again, that she was useless, worthless, and unwanted, finally took its final toll. At the age of 17, her mother kicked her out of the house, to make way for her new boyfriend.For the first little while, Jenna couch surfed, trying to figure out what to do, working to be able to stay in school and fighting off the lure of suicidal thoughts. And one night it happened: she was touched by an angel. Well, sort of.It was actually the TV show on in her aunt’s den, where she was sleeping on the futon. She was trying to do her homework and trying to fight back the tide of pain and feelings of being unwanted everywhere she went. The lead character came on the screen, and although she can’t remember the context surrounding what the character said, she remembers what she said, because it changed everything for her.
“In the end, everything will be better. And if it’s not better, it’s not the end.”She was faced with a decision: to choose who she would become. Would she be a victim, or would she chart the course of her future? She decided then and there, that she was going to pursue a higher purpose in her life, and she was going to work towards being a part of the solution, not the problem.Believe it or not, that is exactly what she did. Jenna finished school with great grades. She has traveled and she is planning on continuing her education. But most importantly, she had the courage to recognize her own worth, despite what circumstances tried to tell her.Today, Jenna has talked to thousands and thousands of high school students, sharing her story and inviting them to the same hope: the hope that purpose brings. Jenna is a part of our staff that works to get us into high schools across the continent and we are proud of who she is.At the end of her story, Jenna has one final thought she shares with the students:
I was a bit of a victim of a lack of cable tv when I was a kid. I didn’t get to see all the shows that other kids talked about growing up: the ones that you needed to not live on a farm in the middle of nowhere for. But I remembered the puppet, Lamb Chop. I think she was everyone’s soft spot.The cards kind of seemed stacked against Shane right from the beginning. For reasons beyond anyone’s understanding, his father gave him the impression, from the time he was a tiny child that he wasn’t wanted. And it wasn’t something he dreamed up: he recalls incidents that his family have confirmed of outright abuse and neglect and he was left to bear the brunt of a lot of pain his father had internalized. When he was 3 his mother decided that enough was enough, and she divorced him and tried to move on with her life. And that is when she met Kevin, the man that would forever leave an impact on Shane about how to treat women, how to be a father, and how to take care of his family. Shane bonded with him almost instantly, but it was short lived.It was a few weeks before Christmas, and as a 5 year old boy, he was asked an important question by Kevin: “What do you want for Christmas?”. He already knew the answer because he had been focused on it for quite some time. He wanted a Criss-Cross Crash and a Lamp Chop puppet. So simple, yet something that would follow him for years to come, because that was one of his last conversations with Kevin. Kevin died shortly after from a heart attack; Shane found him on their bathroom floor. That Christmas was the loneliest of Shane’s young life.Christmas morning, as he got up with his mother and sister and they tried to make the most of their time together, he began to open his gifts. There, under the tree, just like he had been promised, was the Criss-Cross Crash and the Lamb Chop puppet. They now meant more to him than ever because they were his only tangible link to the man who had been the father to him that he had always wanted. He would treasure that puppet for the rest of his life, a reminder of someone who had loved him unconditionally when he needed it the most. When all the gifts were gone under the tree, they noticed one last, tiny box, wrapped with a bow. It had been put there by Kevin only days earlier, and it was an engagement ring for Shane’s mom. There were no words to describe the loss, only pain and tears.
As time passed, Shane began to move on with his life, never hearing from his biological father and feeling deep down that it was probably for the best. Shane didn’t want anything to do with him, as he only represented a source of pain and loss in his life. Until one day the phone rang and it was him.He asked to see Shane, and somehow, despite how he felt, Shane conceded and allowed him the honour of seeing him again. But that day his father left Shane with an almost impossible request: to please forgive him for all that he had done to him and for how much he had failed him. And somewhere from deep within, Shane felt it was time to just let it all go and recognize that this man can no longer define and influence how he would live his life. Shane didn’t want to be a victim anymore – he wanted to be free.Shortly after that conversation, Shane received shocking news he wasn’t expecting: his father had died, and Shane had no idea that he had been sick. Life came full circle for him, yet again. Only now, he had closure, because he was able to let it all go. He wasn’t the abused and scared little boy anymore; he was a young man who understood the power of forgiveness and the gift of hope.Today, along with his wife, Katie, Shane leads one of our high school road teams across the nation. Each day he stands on a stage and shares his story, opens up his life, and holds out the gift of hope to thousands upon thousands of youth. And each day, there are always those in the crowd who need to hear it most.
