Hi my name is Stephanie. I have been a girl of God all my life, I have gone through a lot of hard stuff in my life but through it all, I have grown even closer to God. That’s why I wanted to call my blog A Few Steps Closer, meaning, hopefully, my blog will encourage you and you will grow in your faith and draw closer to the Lord with every blog post you read.
Here’s a little bit of my background. I was born and raised in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada. And at an early age, my parents knew something was going on for me, but they didn’t know what and they didn’t know how to help me. So, by the recommendation of a doctor they got some testing done on me, and a few tests later, and they found out that I have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), Dyslexia, and anxieties. But on top of that, I had anaphylaxis to peanuts, chickpeas, and soy. I was told by a doctor to stay away from anything that was in the same family as peanuts, including beans and peas.
Life was hard as a child, I didn’t understand about God even though my parents raised me with the faith and love of the Lord. But life was hard for me, I was scared of everything. By age 6 my anxieties were so bad I stopped eating altogether, I wouldn’t swallow my own saliva, and I always thought something was wrong with me. I was scared to die and didn’t want to die, but I was also scared to live.
After going through quite a few counselors, I finally was put on a med called Zoloft. It took awhile for the med to work, 6 weeks or so, but once it was working I wasn’t as scared anymore, I could eat. But now I faced a bigger problem, I wasn’t scared of food so I gained a lot of weight. At the age of 13, I was 5’7 and weighed over 190lbs. My self-esteem was really low, and I was going through hard times in school with not being able to read or write like other people I knew.
My mother had homeschooled me since the age of 5 so it was hard to make any friends even though she took me to all the homeschooling get-togethers, and arranged play dates for me with other kids but when it came down to it no one wanted to be my friend because of my OCD, Dyslexia, anxieties, and food allergies.
Fast forward a few years, and the doctor told me I didn’t need to be on meds anymore. So, he took me off them, and a year later when I still couldn’t lose weight my doctor blamed me for eating too much candy… but that was far from the truth.
At the age of 15 I was invited to go horseback riding for the first time… I loved it and felt so free on the back of a horse. The Lord had led me to something that helped me relax in my crazy, nervous life. I also found joy and peace in music. And started learning to play the violin. I also found great joy in playing old video games I grew up with like Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, and others.
To this day I still play my violin, and have added piano into the mix. And I love books! But sadly, due to not having enough time in my day, and it taking over 45 minutes to get to the barn, I have not been able to ride horses for over a year now. I still enjoy playing video games and have to balance it all with work. I still really hope and pray that the Lord has horses planned in my future but if He doesn’t, then He will have something better intended for me…
I hope to some day travel the world, meet a man of God, get married and have kids, but the Lord knows what’s best for me. And I know my life is in His hands!
I hope that by reading a bit about me and my past, you will find hope and encouragement in your daily struggles, and I hope you can grow A Few Steps Closer to the Lord.
