Life After Hopelessness Part 1

Kristen Jane Anderson grew up in, what she liked to call "a very All-American, carefree childhood." She had a great family, an older brother and sister, and her parents were happily married. She had everything she needed, most of what she wanted, and there were no major trials or tragedies in her life. When Kristen was in Junior High, she started to realize that people weren't as genuine as she thought they were, and the world wasn't as great as she thought it was either. Kristen wanted to do something to help make a difference in the world, but felt like there was little she could do. So, she decided to focus on her little world and making her family, her friends and herself happy. That seemed to work for a while. She had lots of friends, played soccer and was dating the prom king. Then all at once, everything seemed to go wrong. Her grandmother died, three of her friends died, another was dying of cancer, and a friend raped her - all within a year. She became very discouraged and the pain that she felt overwhelmed her, believing that she couldnt take her life anymore. On a cold January night at the age of 17 she attempted suicide by laying on a set of railroad tracks, and was run over by 33 freight train cars at 55 mph. She lost both of her legs and 8 pints of blood, but was miraculously still conscious and alive. Afterwards, Kristen struggled with depression for another 3 years, but after accepting Christ and getting involved with a really good church, her life was transformed. In time, God helped her get out of depression and off of all her medications. She began speaking, started Reaching You Ministries, attended Moody Bible Institute and is now happily married with a family.