A Battle-Beaten Heart

Begin at the Beginning

Well, when undecided where to start, one can always start at the start. By such a twisted phrase, I mean that in order to begin my tales I should start at the start of this young lady's life. She was born a middle child in a Christian home. She was not the oldest nor the youngest, and she wasn't even the first born daughter to this family. She was the exact middle child amongst her siblings.

The family she was born into was a good family, and like any other family, it had it's issues too. The parents were loving and caring as well as strict and tough. Both worked hard to provide for their family as it began to blossom, and have earned the respect of their children. The parents were tough and unwavering as they held to discipline and would not let any of their children get away with misbehaving. Even so, they did all they could to reward good behavior and continued to love their children.

The siblings of the young lady, of whom this tale is about, are another story entirely. The eldest always asserted his dominance of age with his size and knowledge. He enjoyed teasing and picking on his younger siblings constantly. He used his size to win wrestling matches, and his wits to make the others feel inferior. The next of the older siblings was not much better for she always held herself above such things, she was to good for any of us. The young lady of this story had shared a room with this sibling for many years. This sibling was the boss of the room, period. The young lady of this tale was told many times not to make a sound, not to cross to the sibling's side of the room, to do whatever she said, and to never bother her. The next sibling to our young lady is the youngest of all the siblings. He was not so bad, for the young lady had some dominance over him. The young lady and he would often play together, and he had to do what she said. But, if the play got too rough for him he would cry the cry of a banshee to get the attention of the parents, often getting the young lady into trouble.

With such a family around our young lady, the foundations of her life were being built. The discipline of her parents taught her right from wrong, manners, morals, and so much more. Her siblings... well one could say were not always the best impact on her journey into becoming a person. The older siblings had made the young lady quiet and timid in order to avoid confrontation with them. The younger sibling on the other hand caused the young lady to grow easily irritated due to how he always complained and over exaggerated. Yet her siblings were not always the worst either. The eldest gave insights to facts about the strange world around her and the important values of teamwork. The next eldest gave insight about fashion, matching colors, and led some of the way toward our young lady being saved in Christ. The younger sibling helped our young lady to learn how to share and gave her something to protect.

Our young lady had a good family and a good start on her life, but much was to follow, and many trials were still yet to be faced.