By Riley Gonzalez –
After parents underwent a messy divorce, Faith Osler walked away from her faith into drugs, partying, sexual intimacy. She even followed her boyfriend to Hawaii and was living in sin. He became abusive and narcissistic.
“That was the most hopeless and empty I have ever felt in my entire life,” she says. “I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I felt numb. That was rock bottom for me.”
But God rescued her and today she’s happily married and serving God.
Born into a Christian family, Faith Osler grew up knowing about God. “My parents were both really involved in church,” she says. “I’m thankful I always knew there was a God.”
But that early peace shattered when her parents got divorced when she was 6.
“It was a very messy divorce,” Faith says. “There was a lot of really intense fighting and a lot of chaos that followed.” Her “childhood ended.” The stress and constant moving made her “grow up really fast.”
As a kid navigating the bad decisions of her parents, she shoved her own desires down in her heart.
“I learned to silence my own needs to keep the peace,” she says. “I didn’t know what real love looked like.”
As she got older, Faith drifted away from her childhood beliefs.
“I was partying, drinking, being intimate with my partner and getting involved in things that I knew I shouldn’t have,” she says. “It wasn’t anything too crazy, but enough that I was putting myself in unsafe situations.”
After graduating early, Faith moved to Hawaii to live with a man she thought she’d marry.
“It felt euphoric,” she remembers, “but there was also this underlying feeling of something’s not right.” Her boyfriend became emotionally and mentally abusive.
She didn’t know how to leave the boyfriend. She was isolated from family and friends on the island of Hawaii.
“The Lord just met me in that spot,” Faith says. “He said, ‘Faith, I’m here when you’re ready. I know you and I see you. You’re not too broken. You’re not too used. You’re not dirty. You have purpose. And I’m not done with you yet.’”
“I just broke down,” she says. “It was like God reached into my darkness and pulled me out.”
From that day on, Faith made a decision to rebuild her life with God at the center.
She went to therapy, started journaling her prayers, and began surrounding herself with people who encouraged her healing.
“I had to unlearn everything I thought love was,” she says.
Then she met Danny, the man she calls her greatest blessing. “He’s the kindest, most gentle person I’ve ever met,” she says. “The Lord gave me more than I ever knew I needed.”
At 21, Faith was baptized by her husband and her pastor.
Faith also attended Bible college for a short time, though she laughs about it now. “I thought I had to do something big to prove my faith,” she says. “But I realized God didn’t need that. He just wanted my heart.”
“After everything – the heartbreak, the trauma, the healing, I’m just full on fire for the Lord. The Lord is going to make something so beautiful from your pain,” she says. “Because He did it for me.”
