- [Narrator] Christy Moso-Burras says

growing up all she wantedwas her father's love,

but he abandoned her when she was young.

- My relationship with myfather was absolutely none.

When he left, we very rarely saw him.

I always wanted to be daddy's little girl

and I craved that love so bad.

- [Narrator] While hermother worked long hours,

Christy bounced from the homes

of family and friends.

By the age of 10, shehad been sexually abused

and was beginning to act out.

At 11, she became a runaway and was sent

to a girls' home.

Instead of of finding refuge

Christy says she suffered physical

and emotional abuse from the staff

until she left at age 16.

- When I got out of the girls' home,

I was coming out just a hot mess

and I would say it was a lot of anger

from feeling unprotected,

especially from my father.

I hated God.

I looked at God like Idid my earthly father

and wanted no part of him.

- [Narrator] By 21, shewas in her second marriage

and a mother of two children.

Then, Christy's father reached out to her.

He had become a quadriplegic

after an accident andneeded a place to stay.

Hopeful of mending therelationship, she agreed

and cared for him for eight years.

But she says the arrangement brought chaos

to her home.

- Year after year after year,

I never heard I love you,

I never heard thank you.

I was so angry because I never got

what I was looking for

from my father.

He still continued in hisdysfunctional lifestyle,

even living in our home.

It was gambling, women,

he was smoking pot down in our basement.

So I just had to make a choice

to either keep chasing this dream

of my father or to be with my family.

- [Narrator] She gave him the home

and her family moved out,

but when her father diedjust a few weeks later,

Christy was overwhelmed by guilt.

Her marriage began to suffer

and eventually they divorced.

- If I hadn't of left,

if I hadn't of moved,

if I would have been there,

I felt totally responsible for his death.

I not only lost my dad,

I lost a good marriage.

I lost respect.

Having the divorces on my head.

The thing I think affected me the most

was the relationship with my kids.

It was horrible and I knew

the only way I could drown my pain

was goin bar to bar to bar,

man to man to man, lookingto fill that void, you know,

feeling the hurt and the pain that

I had never dealt with.

- [Narrator] On Christmas Eve, 2005,

Christy was alone and hopeless.

- I had already messed up my life so bad.

My children weren't speaking to me then

and so I just made adecision, I was through,

and I ended up taking prescriptionmedicine and overdosed

and it was just by the grace of God

that a friend had called me to wish

me a happy New Year and recognized

that something was wrongin my voice and called 911.

- [Narrator] Christy survived and began

attending a Christian recoveryprogram and counseling.

There, she began to deal with her pain

from the past.

- In small group, I hadmet somebody in there

that became my best friend

and I kind of watched her,

'cause she was so peaceful.

She was just such anexample of Jesus in my life.

She would reach out to me to help,

even if I was in a bar or drinking.

After watching her is when I decided

that I wanted to accept Jesus in my heart.

- [Narrator] During a recovery meeting,

Christy opened her heart to God's love.

- And I remember crying out to him,

"Just forgive me, please forgive me.

"I want you to come into my heart

"and if you will ever show me the peace

"that I see in my best friend,

"I promise you I will serve you forever.

"Forgive me for all the hurtI've caused other people.

"Just come in and wash me clean.

"Help me to have a second chance.

"Let this be a do over for me."

- [Narrator] As she grew closer to God,

she began to reconcile her relationships

and find forgivenessfor those who hurt her.

Today she's an authorand motivational speaker.

And she loves spending time

with her husband, Ronnie,

who is a Christian DJ.

Through God's love,Christy found forgiveness,

freedom and hope.

- There is a hope and a future,

no matter where you came from.

The Christy Moso thatI see today is so much

different from my past because I see

a little girl that wasshattered and broken,

but by God's grace, I'mnow forgiven and whole.