would come up with some excuse to not send her to visit me . When my daughter turned 14 , she came to visit us in El Paso for the summer . After hearing what she had been through over the past four years , we did not send her back to her mother . Once my former spouse won custody , she used my ten-year-old daughter as a laborer on a marijuana farm . She also exposed her to other religions such as Buddhism , Hinduism , and some other humanistic views . This exposure greatly interfered with her spiritual development . Her mother and stepfather also abused her physically and mentally . If she messed up pruning a marijuana plant , they would deny her
food and shelter , make her sleep out in the cold without food for a day or punished her by making her hold bricks in her arms for hours in a corner . Needless to say , I got the police involved and her mother and stepfather were convicted of state and federal crimes .
Those four years damaged my daughter . She is a good person with a big heart , but she no longer believes in Jesus Christ . She completely turned her back on God . She didn ’ t rebel or anything . In fact , she graduated in the top 10 % of her high school class , but the trust and faith in God that she had as a child were gone .
She was diagnosed as bipolar ( I am as well ). This diagnosis has angered her even more and she now abuses alcohol and drugs in order to self-medicate and deal with her past . This has gotten progressively worse since she stopped her medication . I pray often that she will find her way back to the foundation she was raised on . She has an uphill battle ; she is learning to live with a mental illness , as well as dealing with all of the abuse she suffered as a child . I have learned success is only possible while standing on the solid foundation of Christ . I pray she learns this , too .
Our relationship used to be somewhat strained . She moved out shortly after she graduated . She didn ’ t like our rules and broke them all the time . I sat down with her and explained that I loved her , but she either had to abide by our rules or leave – she left . This has been a good change and she comes and visits us a