Healing for Tamarra comes full circle
BY LAUREN MARTIN
When Tamarra and her partner lifted their children up to place the angel on the top of their Christmas tree on December 1 this year, the two looked at each other with tears in their eyes.
It’s nearly six years since Tamarra had Christmas with all her children, who were removed from her care when she was at the lowest point in her life. From that day onward, Tamarra worked tirelessly to become healthy and functioning, in order to have her kids reinstated to her care.
Reaching out
It was in those dark moments, when she reached out to The Salvation Army. She had just graduated from an addiction rehabilitation centre and wanted to do further courses to improve her parenting, wellbeing and life-skills. She engaged with a counsellor from The Salvation Army’s First Floor program, a holistic, family-inclusive service that supports and empowers families and individuals challenged by their loved ones' challenging behaviours, through individual and group support programs and community education.
Tamarra also completed The Salvation Army’s Positive Lifestyle Program and numerous other courses such as ‘Bringing up Kids’, ‘Interplay’ and ‘Black Box Trauma’ through various organisations – all whilst being supported by her local Salvation Army mission leader with regular food support and pastoral care.
“Without counselling and doing all my courses through The Salvation Army and other places as well, and going to rehab, all those things I thought I would never accomplish and that I would never get through because it’s so hard. But I made it through, and now I get to watch my kids grow with me,” says Tamarra, reflecting on the day that the family put up their Christmas tree this year. “It was a big sense of healing.
“I feel the strongest and happiest and most confident and comfortable in my own skin than I have ever been,” Tamarra says.
“It felt like a massive sense of growth and connection to my kids. I got to experience the achievements and the fruits of all the hard work that I’ve done over the past five years.”
This year, the family will not only be together again, but also be reunited with other extended family members. “Christmas means everything to me,” she says.
Encouraging others
Tamarra knows the new year will bring with it new challenges, and she continues her personal work towards wholeness and healing. She also supports her family as they adjust to their new life together. She speaks to God every day and knows that he has a good future planned out for her.
“Now, I want to help and encourage others,” she shares. “I’ve been looking into doing counselling courses so I can just get a certificate and then be able to volunteer somewhere when I’m okay and the kids are settled.”
It’s a goal she is working towards with the same dogged determination that she used six years ago, and she has no doubt that she will see it come to fruition. For now, though, Tamarra is revelling in the Christmas season with her family, knowing the true meaning of the peace, love and joy that Jesus brings.
“I feel the strongest and happiest and most confident and comfortable in my own skin than I have ever been,” Tamarra says.
