We met at a Fellowship party. I was sitting with four sisters not paying attention to R. He stared at me for a while and managed the courage to come over to me. He introduced himself and told me he just got out of the Military. He served in the Army for thirteen years.  He only had Six years left to retire but he wanted to start a new life as a Civilian.

 

We talked about God and other topics such as politics and life. He seemed very kindhearted and was a great conversationalist.  At the time, I was not seeking a relationship.  I was just focused on College and my relationship with the Lord. I had just rededicated my life to the Lord after being away from Church for about seven years.

 

When the Fellowship was over, we realized we lived close to each other. We took a Cab home together and he walked me to my door. I thought to myself, "He is a gentleman.". I did not realize that this man was a wolf in Sheep's clothing.

 

Our relationship started as a friendship then blossomed into a romantic relationship.  We often went out to dinner and the movies. Eventually we started going to Church together and we would study the word together.

 

Within a year into our relationship things shifted in the wrong direction. He started to control me by monitoring what I ate. He was very health conscious and truthfully, I was not.  When we went to the mall, he bought me a liquid diet that was supposed to quench my appetite, but I felt nauseous and I vomited.  I try to change for him.  I learned never lose weight for a person; do it for your health.

 

As a result of me not losing weight fast enough for R, he started to verbally abuse me. He would curse at me and call me names such as fast cow and fat ass. I would cry and felt like dirt. My self-esteem crumbled and I lost a sense of who I was. The verbal abuse turned physical. I was in the car with him on the way to Church. I was enjoying a snicker candy bar and he knocked it out of my mouth. Before I could say anything, he smacked me in the face.  I cried and screamed like a crazy woman... I was so mad, I tried to jump out of the car, but he stopped me. That was really God saving me from myself.

 

This went on for three years.  He would hit me when we would argue and call me names.  The last straw for me is when he literally tried to kill me. We were arguing very loudly in his house.  He started insulting my mother who treated him with respect. It was inappropriate to bring her into the conversation.  I went outside and scratched his car with a key. I know that was spiteful and vindictive, but I was angry. He saw me and he dragged me into his house like I was a dog and tried to strangle me to death. When I looked at his demonic eyes, I prayed to God to spare my life. I promised God if he spared my life, I would end the relationship.  Suddenly, he released his hold off my neck.  Therefore, I cannot watch the video of the demonic Police Officer who had his knee on George Floyd’s neck because I know what it feels like not to be able to breathe…

 

After that horrific experience, he called me to say he was sorry for the 100th time.  I told him it was over, and I never looked back... God gave me a second chance and I was grateful to him.  Thank you for sparing my life!

 

Lubran