Megan – 2014 Graduate

I grew up in a loving Christian home and accepted Christ as my Savior at age 11. In high school and middle school, I became very performance driven and began comparing myself to other girls. I believed my identity was in my appearance and what I achieved. I developed an eating disorder at age 16, which became progressively life threatening. I was hospitalized twice my senior year due to malnutrition and a severely low heart rate. I moved away for college and began to test out the party scene with my roommate. I was searching for a place to belong. The weekend before classes began, I was raped by a friend. I felt worthless, used and dirty. I became very depressed and angry. This led to a six-year downward spiral of alcohol and drug abuse on top of a severe eating disorder. I was destroying my body and slowly killing myself, but I didn’t care. I believed in God, but I didn’t believe He would want anything to do with someone like me. I felt like a complete failure. I was hopeless.

My mom heard about Mercy on the internet, so we visited the Nashville home where we attended a luncheon and heard Mercy graduates share their stories. I recognized Mercy was different than other programs and had a high success rate. I decided to apply.

At Mercy, I learned what it meant to have a relationship with God. I learned that He loves me and that through Him, I am validated. I had made a mess of my life, but He hadn’t given up on me. I learned that all was not lost, because of His forgiveness. God began to heal the damage I had done to my body and fill the emptiness I felt. It was really hard in the beginning to let go of the control I believed I had and submit to Him. Once I did, I began to see monumental changes in my life and my thinking.

God has healed my broken body and my soul. He has restored my hope and has given me an identity in Him. I now have a confidence I have never possessed in my life. I no longer feel worthless or a need to conform to a certain idealistic image. I’ve learned what it is like to have people who love and support me. I now know how to fully rely on God.

After graduation, I plan to return to college and complete my degree in English so I can teach students abroad.

Words cannot express how thankful I am that God laid it upon Nancy’s heart to open these homes for girls like me. I am so grateful for the donors that make it possible to come here free-of-charge. Coming here saved my life. Mercy has been an unbelievable blessing to me.