Daughter of the King: Hilda's Story
Women Helping Women - God has gifted me with the friendship and spiritual mothering of amazing women. Hilda Martin is one of those "daughters of the King" who came along side of me in some of the darkest moments of my life. Shortly after I lost all of my hair due to chemo-therapy, she accompanied me to a wig store (at the local Farmer's Market) and helped me pick out a wig that fooled a lot of people into thinking I hadn't lost my hair! As important as that was to me, her greater impact on my life is her total love for Jesus and trust in His purposes. If you knew her story, you might wonder at why she could trust Him. And yet, her very story makes her trust appealing and enticing and credible to the struggling believer and the unbeliever alike. Here is an excerpt from our book, Treasures of Encouragement, Living Boldly in View of God's Promises in which Hilda shares her journey. The beauty is that Hilda's story continues to mark out a path for those coming behind her. I'll share the "rest of her story" at the end of this post.
Update: On August 10, my friend and the spiritual mother of many, experienced the fulfillment of her greatest desire - she saw Jesus as she stepped over into Home. Hilda not only taught us how to live, she taught us how to die. Her fingerprints are all over my life and the lives of everyone she met. This is her story
Daughter of the King - Hilda's Story
As a child I was subjected to daily physical, mental and sexual abuse from numerous family members. Even the spiritual world was frightening to me because my relatives practiced witchcraft within their religion. I knew that we were different, but there was nothing I could do about it, and so I inhabited a lonely and bewildering world. Our move to America from Costa Rica only deepened that loneliness. I felt as if I was destined to always be an outsider; my inability to speak or understand English was like a high wall cutting me off from the rest of the world. Even as a child I would wonder why everybody in my life seemed to want to hurt and use me. I would wonder, too, if I would ever break free, ever find someplace safe.
In my search for love and security, I made a lot of bad choices. Hoping to escape a painful family situation and thinking that I had finally found that "safe place" I had longed for, I got married at the age of sixteen to a man who proved to be every bit as cruel and abusive as my own family had been. More troubling still, I became pregnant almost immediately. Certain I wasn't yet ready to love and care for a child, I planned to get an abortion. Looking back, I can see now that it was God who stopped me from destroying my unborn baby. I did not know it then, but this child would be one of only two children who would survive my six pregnancies. Over the years I would lose four babies because of the physical abuse of the men in my life.
My marriage came to a bitter end, and I was left alone as a desperate, struggling single mother. I wanted to die and I even tried to commit suicide. Yet God did not give up on me and He graciously sent a woman into my life who understood my background and yet who did not judge me for my past sins. This woman invited me to her church, where I met Jesus in 1968. Life still wasn't easy, but I no longer felt like I was all alone.
I soon remarried, thinking I had found safety with a man who was a leader in his church. When he, too, began to physically abuse me, I turned to the church leaders for help. They didn't believe me and instead insisted that I learn how to be a "submissive wife." That marriage, too, came to a messy, painful end. Once again I was a homeless, single mother with no place to go. Hopeless and desperate, I again considered suicide my only option. But God was holding me tightly in His grip, and He reminded me of that friend who had loved me before so unconditionally. I got in touch with her, and she helped me get back on my feet. God led me to a church that taught me how to respond biblically to my past and how to trust His people again.
Even though I had asked Jesus to forgive my sins, it was long time before I could fully understand just how special I am to God, how much He loves me. I also still struggle to believe that other people really do care about me. It is God's love and forgiveness that gives me the courage to honestly tell my story today. His great power has changed me from wanting to end my life to wanting to live – for Him. He is the reason I am alive today, and I know now where I belong. The Lord is giving me the confidence and strength I need to reach out to others with His love – to the women in my church, to teenagers who feel like misfits, and to women at several nearby prisons.
All of my life I had hoped to find someone to love me as I truly am, in spite of all the wrong things I had done and the things that had been done to me, someone who would treat me kindly and lovingly, someone who would really care for me. Then, one wonderful day, my Father found me at last. When I repented of my sins, and His Son's precious blood washed them all away. I felt clean and new for the first time in my life. I learned who I truly was, the daughter of a wise, loving, and mighty King.
No matter what challenges come my way now, I know I can trust Him to see me through them all. (Excerpted from Treasures of Faith, Living Boldly in View of God's Promises, pages 199-201, Used with Permission from P & R Publishing.)
Hilda continues to offer help and hope to hurting women but in the past year, many of those women had the opportunity to offer help and hope to Hilda. Hilda was diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer and the prognosis was not good. She has gone through numerous treatments in her battle against this disease and for reasons only God knows, He has used these treatments to chase the cancer cells and today Hilda is in remission. Though the pathway has not been easy, Hilda's faith and confidence in the love and faithfulness of her God to care for her, whether here on earth, or by taking her Home, never wavered. I will always be grateful that Hilda and I are spiritual sisters, as daughters of the King of kings.
In His grip with my friend, Hilda,
Sharon