Scars & Stilettos

I am praising God again today! This week has been terrible for my joints. Rainy, chilly weather just makes me ache so badly, and I've been having a lot of trouble with my left knee lately. It's been popping out of socket on occasion as well as causing sharp pains making it difficult to walk. I've been taking it easy all week, trying to rest it so that I could chaperone Mia's field trip to the Children's Museum today. She's been so excited about it, and I can't do a lot of the things other moms can because of my illness, so I really wanted to do this for her. But at 10 pm last night, my knee was hurting so much that I couldn't even walk to the bathroom without hopping and limping. So I posted on Facebook asking for prayers specifically for my left knee. I also emailed my dad and talked to Doogie and Jesse, asking them all to pray that my knee be healed so I could do this one thing for my little girl.

At first I did what I usually do, I started to worry about what would happen if it wasn't better. But then I remembered to thank God as if He had already answered my prayer. I sent up a prayer thanking the Lord for my healing and for being able to be there for Mia.

When I woke up this morning, my knee didn't twinge like it often does. Sometimes it takes an hour before the pain really sets in, but today it didn't. I was able to go up and down the many, many stairs twice, plus walk all over with Mia and her good friend Elyse without any major pain. It didn't kick in until on the bus on the way home, but by then I was so grateful that I don't even mind. It hurts again now, but God answered my prayers, and I am so happy. Mia had a wonderful time because I was there for her. It was a good day.

Scars & Stilettos by Harmony Dust will probably grab readers with its subtitle: The Transformation of an Exotic Dancer. Harmony was raised with virtually no parental involvement in Venice Beach California. Her mother was a hippie who regularly moved boyfriends in and out of the house and sold crystals on the boardwalk. Her father is a Chicago businessman who was to wrapped up in marrying and divorcing to have time for his little girl. Left to her own devices, she was forced to raise herself and try to protect herself from the adults who abused and molested her, leaving Harmony with a skewed view of sexuality and love. She soon attaches herself to Derrick, a childhood friend, who is at first a boyfriend but then takes advantage of her financially and sexually while running around with other women. Despite all of this drama, Harmony still put herself through college to get a degree in developmental psychology and was working at a daycare center. When she wasn't making enough money to support both Derrick and herself (and his baby's mama), she took a job as a stripper, just for a few months until she could get out of debt. A few months turned into several years until she started going to church and fell in love with God. Her story of escaping a life of degradation and shame is without artifice or pretense. Harmony tells readers how she disconnected her brain from her body in order to strip in front of strangers for money and then how God restored her pride and sense of self. This brave young woman wasn't content to just get herself out of the industry; she's also formed a group called Treasures, Inc to help other women still stripping by showing them that they are loved. This is a courageous story told with a great deal of heart.

Thank you to Kregel Publications for providing me with a copy of this book for review!