What a creation of Earth! This is the life we are living in this universe. A tree has its own leaves and a trunk, which combines roots and the leaves. What is even nicer about it is that roots cannot be cut or vanished; they’re deeply planted. Even though there may be earthquakes or heavy rains, the root stands still. The tree is a creature that makes a huge impact on everyone’s life by providing life: oxygen. But do people appreciate it?

Look, the tree remains the same whether cut or intact. But it sticks to its roots. It stays in its position. A tree may be anywhere and grow anyhow, but when it falls, it rises up again. This tree, this creation, is made for us to realise our capabilities. A tree never complains or changes; if it is made to be green, it will stand in that.

When the sun comes out at the cock’s crow, it delights the tree and gives it wings to shine and produce good fruits. Things in our lives happen unplanned, but God knows each and every circumstance we go through. We are humans, and so we are human enough to be human. It is God who allows us to prosper.

Sometimes, we act a certain way, but long for something different on the inside. We can be living in a great palace, but our insides could be like a black, smoking overcrowded hell. This might be as you feel right now. But, let me remind you that we people often forget our role on Earth as humans. We can make a mistake once, twice or multiple times. Our mistakes don’t distract from our graciously created future destination.

We get stressed out by things and we don’t actually know what to do and where to go. We need a shell or shelter to hide because the world exploits us. Let’s face it: sometimes we feel like we aren’t good enough. But truly no one is supposed to step on other people’s toes. We all have to appreciate and love ourselves the way that we are. Like a tree in a desert being rustled by the sun, we cannot lose our positions. Thus, the tree lives like a mark to the world, showing us how we are supposed to be. There are many things in a tree that stay in the root, making people hate it so badly. There are even snakes—those different types of people that come to the tree with the aim of gaining something. But the tree never cares about how many snakes may ruin its reputation of good deeds. The tree only decorates the world to be alive. There are things that we’re born with which stick to us. Then, there are many things that come along the way into our lives…

***

There was a girl named Victory Mabena. When she was a tiny baby, she was abandoned by her mother on the darkest road in the city of Johannesburg. Right after she was left alone, a drunk driver drove toward her. He then heard a baby screaming loud non-stop. The man got out of the car and picked up the baby. Remember! He was drunk; anything could have happened. But, after talking this child, this man seemed to be grieving. He saw the child and remembered that his wife could not bear children. So, unexpectedly, the man took the baby safely home.

The man and his wife raised this child with love and peace. They named her Glory, for they weren’t sure of her identity. This girl grew up knowing these two parents as her biological parents. What was the most surprising thing was that the father continued to be an alcoholic, even though he had a blessing in the house. The girl called Glory but actually Victory didn’t like what her father was doing. She then therefore dreamt to be a psychologist in addressing alcoholics.

With her parents’ support, she eventually made it to university. She chose to study psychology at Wits. She was a father’s daughter; they were so close. This was different from her mother—it was like she could smell the milk running through her veins wasn’t hers. After some time, her father died because of a disease caused by alcohol and it affected his liver. But, before he died he gave all his inheritance to his beloved daughter.

Glory did amazing things in the community for she thought beyond boundaries, she was a living testimony. Her father’s death broke her heart, but never allowed her to give up. Her so-called mother began to be so sick for quite some time by means of stress. She wondered if Glory’s biological mother would reveal herself. She feared that she would explain everything to Glory. Would Glory think she was a liar? Would all those years of not telling Glory about her true identity make her “daughter” hate her even more?

Surprisingly, after he father’s funeral, Glory became even more connected with her adoptive mother. They began to interact with each other. They were even grieving together, consoling one another. Her mother had many thoughts about her daughter’s future. How was she going to live without the truth? The mother was worried about how she could tell Glory that she was abandoned as a baby. She could see that her days were numbered. She felt like she was going to somehow find out. What if her real mother showed up to their doorstep? She needed to tell Glory. Or else she would hate her again.

So Glory’s adoptive mother was afraid that her daughter would hate her for life. But knowing her, she was not brave enough to tell her daughter anything. Five years passed like this, with her adoptive mother worried. However, Victory’s biological mother was also having a tough time without Victory. She would walk down the street and see young girls and other kids, and she felt sad. She wished she could have been in her child’s life and see her grow. One day, it became too much. She was watching the news on television and then an advert came on advertising an adoption agency. She decided to give it a try. Maybe they had her daughter?

The very next day, she went to the agency and asked about Victory. To her surprise, they told her that they had a girl named Glory registered, but that her original name actually was Victory. She was happy and she asked who had taken her, where she was and what she was doing. They gave her a piece of paper with her phone number and address.

She called that same day and asked to speak to Victory. When Victory came to the phone, she took a deep breath, and she spoke, “Hello, Glory, your real name is Victory. I know you don’t know me. I heard about this adoption agency, and I found you. I’m calling to tell you that I am your biological mother.”

Glory said nothing, she only took the phone to her mother. The whole thing was too confusing for her.

Her adoptive mother answered her biological mother, “Hello?”

“Hello, I know you don’t know me, but this has to be fixed as soon as possible. I appreciate the fact that you’ve done so much for Victory, yes that is Glory’s real name. I’m not going to take her away from you. I just want to know her and build a relationship with her. I can see that my life is in the street corners. I need to recover it as soon as possible.”

Victory’s adoptive mother was so speechless. The day she had thought about so much had come true. She felt relieved and peaceful. However, she was also anxious because she wondered how Glory would act once she found out that she had lied to her about being her real mother for all those years. She responded, “This is so hard. I don’t know what to do. I’ve been through a lot in my life. But your Victory was nothing but an angel for my heart, and she still is. The reason why we saved her was because she was a true definition of a blessing. But tell me, why did you leave her that way?”

She replied, “I know, I’ve done so much wrong in my life in such a way that I can’t even look at myself in the mirror. I’m a hypocrite. Actually, I’m a sinner. But, I’ve learnt a lot from my mistakes. I’m a new creature. I’m here to deliver new creations and life.”

“Come visit. I think you two have a lot of catching up to do.”

***

That revelation formulated anger, Victory’s tears overflowed from deep within. She could not believe she had been living a lie for all those years. She felt disowned. She felt like she was in a hole that no one could dig her out of. She felt like a mistake. She kept on pleading, blessing herself from crying out. Her tears were flowing like water in the river. She felt like her adoptive mother was a strong, but manipulative, person because she did not tell her important things, like how she was abandoned.

But when Victory met her mother, she revealed herself to her with so many scars on her heart. Her mother had had a difficult life. For example, her father had abused her and she could only hang around a bad crowd of people. She apologised to Victory for abandoning her. Then, Victory welcomed her with both arms and never rejected her. Even Victory was a good-hearted person. She had followed the steps of her adoptive parents; being very welcoming and open to new people. So, she accepted her mother with open arms and she forgave her adoptive mother.

***

Victory spent ten years to recover from all the lingering pain. After, she went on and opened a campaign to address people about how difficult it is to be abandoned. She wanted to let people the realistic and fair enough not just do things anyhow, especially women.

And then, Bam! After two years, she learned that her biological mother died of breast cancer. Two years later, her adoptive mother also died in a car accident. She had been hit by a drunk driver. When Victory found out, she screamed so loud noting the fact she had been through a lot. One thing that ringed in Victory’s mind was that she did well through all the kindness searching for witness. Victory buried both of her mothers next to her father, peaceful and never looked back.

***

Victory became an inspiration to many and went overseas to New York to pursue her career in psychology. She was devoted to helping people stop abandoning their kids and to stop being alcoholics. After some time, Victory met the love of her life named David Brown, a businessman. They got married and she gave birth to a baby boy named Chris. Victory was happily ever after.

But after 10 years, Chris became blind because of an accident. Without hesitation, Victory sacrificed her eyes for her boy to see and have a future. However, Chris did not appreciate her kindness. Actually, he started to be embarrassed by his blind mother. Victory felt so helpless. Then, David cheated on Victory. The child that David had with another woman then wanted to stay with Victory after hearing how her child was embarrassed and how her husband was cheating. Victory welcomed her into their home and called her “Purpose.” Purpose was also abandoned by her mother, just like Victory. David became paralysed, and his legs stopped working. Victory, full of grace, took care of him. Victory was brave, even though she had many sores in her heart.

With time, Victory became president of her own organization and left a good mark for generation to generation. Her adopted daughter, Purpose, followed Victory’s lead and made a name for herself. “Life begins from difficulties and ends there,” said Victory.