" Mary J. is in the spot tonight..."

I had an unexpected blessing on Wednesday. It had been a pretty long day, and when I got home my roommate was watching Oprah (I'm not particularly an Oprah fan so my initial reaction was...why is that on the TV). Mary J. Blige was Oprah's guest and I immediately got glued to the TV as I listened to her story. I didn't know much of her story...but here's a brief outline.
She was raised by a single mother in a New York housing project. She was sexually and physically abused beginning at the age of five. Mary's description of the abuse in her family was that: "It's a vicious cycle. You look at the way your mother is being treated and you think this is the way you're supposed to be treated." Mary turned to drugs and alcohol at an early age. The music industry's partying lifestyle accelerated her downward spiral. "No one was telling me the truth," Mary says. "I had someone say to me, 'Girl, it's okay to drink and be promiscuous.' It was a lot of me just not loving or respecting myself and not thinking I deserved anything better."
But (praise God!) there was a "Breakthrough" (her new album title). Mary says her turning point came in 2001. After the loss of a close friend, her grief was compounded by the death of fellow hip-hop star Aaliyah on August 25 and the 9/11 tragedy. Of course Oprah tried to keep shifting the focus to "Mary J's self-discovery"...but Mary J. kept saying God opened my eyes to who I really was. Mary said from that point on she stopped blaming others for everything (the drug, addiction, etc) and saw herself as who she really was...a sinner. She described how painful that process was and how many of her "friends" left her and called her a "God-freak." But God was continually opening her eyes to the power of forgiveness. Referring to the abuse she endured as a child, Mary said, "I blame (my mother) for nothing, but I forgive her verything." Oprah selected this quote to go in her book of quotations (maybe one day Oprah will understand how Mary J. could make this bold statement...I think it's such a testimony to the power of Jesus' forgiveness in Mary's life).
Mary J. also shared how "grateful she is to God for bringing her husband into her life." The part about their story that really was surprising/encouraging to me was that at first she was disappointed that the marriage alone didn't heal the insecurities that she still battled. "I was looking to my husband to make me feel good about myself," she says. So not only was her husband a blessing because He is a fellow believer to walk with, but he also was used by God to show her that (and she didn't use these words on the show...but I'm hoping this is what she was thinking) Christ alone can meet her needs and defeat her insecurities.
Anyways- Her story was encouraging to me because it just reminded me how important it is to speak Truth into others' lives (even when you think they might not be listening). It made me realize how blessed I am because God has used so many people to speak Truth in my life. I was also thankful that God can use any instrument...even the Oprah show (let me know if you think that's blasphemy!) to speak beauty and Truth into our lives...may we continue to pray for open eyes so that we don't miss the blessings of those moments!!!