“Now I can have relationships with people, to love them for who they are and to be there for them. I am not looking for validation from anyone anymore. Because I have validation through Christ.”

These are the opening words from Jessica Elaine Thomsen as she sat down to tell her story.

“It’s very lonely out there,” she began. Her mother was not present in her life and her dad was always working and under the influence of something. Her grandparents, with whom she lived were her stability. Jessica was a lonely and very angry, rebellious child. She really wanted her family together – needing and wanting a mom. She held her dad on a pedestal and wanted more from him, but learned early on that life wasn’t picture perfect, and never would be.