I am so, so very excited about this post!!! I have had this stirring in my heart for so long and I am SO excited to finally have the opportunity to launch this vision!
One of the visions I have had for this blog is to highlight the stories of women GOD introduces me to & the impact they are making around them. I really want to showcase the hearts, victories, testimonies, and services of women who are using their pasts to make a difference in their futures and in the futures of those surrounding them.
I am very, very excited to kick off this vision by giving my first official “spotlight” introduction to one of the sweetest, most humble, GOD-fearing women I know. I first met this young girl at a church I attended in Phoenix , Arizona
So, without further adieu, I introduce to you my first spotlight feature:
Stevie Rae Estrada
Stevie Estrada is 20 years old. From the moment she was conceived in her mother’s womb, satan sought to destroy her.
“Recently, GOD renamed me ‘Little Warrior’, and looking back at these last 20 years, I think that name sums up my childhood. I have had to fight to live, survive, and normalize since birth.”
“I have a heart condition which requires me to live dependently on a pacemaker. This condition started when I was about 12 months old. I also have Type 1 Diabetes that was diagnosed when I was 10 years old. I have had my Appendix & Gallbladder removed due to complications, and I have a new form of colitis called Eosinophilic Colitis.”
As if her medical complications weren’t enough, Stevie experienced a heartache known all too well to many children of our generation.
“When I was 9 years old my parents divorced and left my brother (8), baby sister (2), and I without a Dad.”
One thing I love so much about the LORD is that even in the midst of the most traumatic, confusing, painful situations, GOD is in the process of working out something far greater in our lives.
As many children of divorce often do, Stevie found herself angry, confused and unable to cope with the changes in her family structure. She found herself lashing out at the ones she loved most.
“Throughout my childhood (up until I was 18), I struggled with hardcore anger issues. I was incredibly mean to my family. My arguments with my parents and I always turned into screaming matches and me physically pushing my parents. My little sister had bruises on her arms and legs from how rough I would be with her. My teenage years and childhood had many trials & many, MANY dark days.”
I have found in my life, that even in the midst of our ugliest moments, GOD places people in our lives to speak comfort, wisdom and strength that may not manifest in our lives at that moment, but it plants a seed that later grows into the moment that forever changes us.
“One thing that my Momma always taught me was to serve others and to love them unconditionally. She had me serving in non-profit organizations from the time I was about 5 years old. I remember learning an appreciation for what I had in life because my mom had me volunteer with her at C.A.S.S. (Central Arizona Shelter Services.” Throughout all this volunteering, I began to grow a heart for the hurting and broken people.”
It was in that experience that GOD used to plant a seed in her that would blossom, years later, at an event with the Kingdom Discipleship ministry – a ministry flourishing under the leadership of Stevie’s mother & father.
On October 27th, 2012, Kingdom Discipleship Ministry hosted an event titled ‘Queen For A Day.’ It was at QFD that Stevie saw her past & her present collide and saw the work of GOD move in the lives of women in her community.
‘There were 55 women there from Watkins Women’s Overflow Shelter. Watkins is a place for single women without children or disabilities to come and fight for a place to sleep. It is an overflow shelter because these single women are not supported by the government and are thrown into the streets to fend for themselves.”
They set up stations around the auditorium for makeup, nails and hair services. Stevie, her mother, sister and other Kingdom Ladies pampered these girls, all out of a service of genuine and pure love. The lives of several women were changed that night – not because of flashing lights or a fancy preacher. Women were touched because someone took a moment out of their lives to cater to the hurting and otherwise unnoticed.
Stevie had the privilege of participating in ‘Ladies Night of Worship’ – an event that followed Queen for a Day. At the event, they set up a variety of different stations around the room. One station in particular they named the ‘Marking Station’. Inspired by Song of Solomon 7-8 ‘we have marked you as a seal upon our hearts, as a seal upon our arms’, ladies marked their arms with words that they felt GOD’s spirit placed on their hearts. Stevie felt the LORD speak “FREEDOM and REDEEMED”.
Stevie had been asked to share her testimony that night & had anticipated hearing others shared along side her. When she arrived and looked at the program schedule, she was humbled and shocked that she was the only one listed to share what the LORD had done in her and where she had came from. Stevie also had the opportunity to use a talent GOD birthed inside of her recently to touch the girls in a very unexpected way – she did Sign Language during Worship. The impact was explosive! Women were touched in marvelous ways.
Women like Nicole, who came to the events broken, pained and hurt found redemption, healing and peace at these events. Nicole gave her life to GOD and wrote in her journal that she was thankful for Stevie’s mother. Some women came with brokenness we could never imagine, like a women whose mother was shot in the head and survived. After hearing Stevie’s and other girl’s testimonies at the events, she was able to admit she could see that GOD had HIS hand on her from day one. A little 13 year old girl was so touched by Stevie’s testimony that she re-dedicated her life to GOD. She told Stevie that she was living in sin and no one but GOD was telling her it was wrong & that there was a way out until Stevie spoke.
Stevie says in all these events there is one thing the LORD has shown her: “The Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, but you encounter the Fear of the LORD in worship.”
It’s funny how GOD works. When we step out and we make a conscious, sacrificial effort to touch others, we see GOD touch us in return. Stevie remembers a time when she made choices in her life that put a strain on her relationship with her family. She remembers being so distant from her family, suffering in sin & disillusion, that she wasn’t sure things would ever truly be like they were, again. But as Stevie gave her sin to GOD and allowed HIM to work in her, and despite her pain reached out to others in need, she found GOD restoring what was broken in her life. Once so distant from her mother, she now finds herself looking at her mother so tenderly and realizing…it’s her mother that has always been her biggest advocate and will always be her biggest hero.
“One thing my Mom always says is: “I can’t give up on you, Stevie. You were painful to bring into this world, and I am not going to throw away the gift GOD has given me in you”.
“Missy told me that GOD is bringing my Sign Language to a new level…that when I pray/intercede for a person, HE will lay on my heart a sign to teach that person so as to break strongholds and lies in their lives.”
When asked what bible verse sums up her life right now, Stevie replied with: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold all things are made new!”
2 Corinthians 5:17.
I’d say that’s just about the most appropriate verse to describe Stevie. What was meant to rob, kill and destroy Stevie in her past (sickness, the splitting of her family, anger & sin) was used by GOD to restore life, hope and a future to the women of
It is with great, great honor that I can call Stevie Estrada my friend and that I can showcase a small portion of the beauty GOD created when HE breathed life into her.
It’s the stories like Stevie’s that I wish to showcase with others; stories of women who do not allow their pasts to define them, but allow GOD to use their pasts to touch the lives of others in a way that no one else could.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..”
Jeremiah 1:5
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