Currently Reading: "Life, In Spite of Me"

I am currently reading Life, In Spite of Me, a true story of a teenage girl that tried to commit suicide, survived, and has now started a ministry to young girls who fall into depression and hopelessness.  Kristen Anderson was 17 years old when she decided to kill herself by laying on train tracks and awaiting the moment the train would come to “end it all.”  Not only did she survive, but she remembers the entire thing!  

She wrote about the incredibly horrible moments of that night:

“As the train closed in, the ground shook so much that my whole body vibrated.  Then the train was upon me, over me.  Pain overwhelmed me.  The train roared.  The momentum of the cars pulled at me, as if the train were trying to suck me into itself.  The wind tugged harder, wrenching at my jacket and yanking my hair upward.  My body rose, lifting slightly.  …My head and chest hit first, then my hips and legs.  Again, I felt the power of the train, the shaking of the ground, the roar of it moving over me.  The force of the weight pushing me down hurt more than anything else.  Fear coursed through me.  I squeezed my eyes tighter.  …The sounds stopped.  The wind stopped, The train stopped.  Am I dead yet?  I opened my eyes and looked all around… To my right, an opening between the wheels revealed something next to the tracks.  My jeans.  And the bright white tennis shows I got for Christmas.  Disbelief filled me.  I was looking at my legs—lying about ten feet away.”

Although Kristen has lived the rest of her life without legs, she has been able to accomplish many things and has found a new hope in Christ that she never had before.  You can take a look at this quick interview on Oprah.  She seems a bit nervous, but I love that she’s willing to share her hope in Christ on camera!