MOUNTAINS MOVE by Brooke Romney for Christine Robertson I spent my teenage years succeeding--good
grades, scholastic honors, and extracurricular accomplishments. However, I felt like nothing was quite good enough for my father. Raised in a differ- ent culture, he thought loving meant encouraging perfection, which I could never quite achieve. If I got an A- on a test, the question was usually, “What did you miss, and why?” There were rare moments of congratulations, which left me feeling never good enough.
Because of the emptiness I felt, I looked for affir- mation in all the wrong places: groups of friends who brought me down, and later, an abusive boy- friend. My boyfriend made me feel ugly, fat, useless, and unlovable, but I kept wandering back to him for more of the same. Three years later, I finally walked away, but not before significant damage had been done. My heartache and sadness were buried deep under my now very successful life. I was running a large retail chain and making a great salary. I was married to a man who loved me and had 3 darling and healthy children. From the outside, my life was positively perfect. However, even during my most incredible moments, voices from my past whis- pered that I wasn’t really good enough and that my life would never really amount to much. Soon the negative voices took over and
knocked me flat on my back. I was physically and emotionally unable to go on. To keep from losing everything, I checked myself into a mental health facility and began rebuilding my life from the ground up. With God by my side and with the help of professional counselors, I started to understand where all the hurt and self-doubt had come from. I took small steps to sit, then stand again. Not much later, I walked back into my life with raw emotions but healthy and positive expectations of who I could be. My experience with professional counselors
saved my marriage, my well-being, and my life. Because of my gratitude for this experience, I created a foundation: Move Mountains, which helps pay for professional counseling for those who cannot afford it. The name came directly from my experience. Getting back into life seemed as impossible as moving a mountain, but with God and a team of loving and supportive people, that is exactly what I did. Move Mountains offers a place
where teens and parents of teens can turn for help when they feel like hope is lost because of anxiety or depression. The foundation offers opportunities, education, and resources for those in vulnerable situations. With the help of Plato’s Closet, the Miss America
Organization, and Madi Esteves, Miss Arizona 2015, this foundation has become a reality. To raise money, the foundation is selling recycle
bags in the Plato’s Closet store in Chandler, AZ for $20. They are also available to order by email- ing me at
christine@platosclosetchandler.com. All proceeds go directly to the Move Mountains Foundation.
69
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80