I grew up believing I was \u201ctoo different\u201d to ever be fully loved.
\nUntil God brought him back into my life.<\/p>\n
My name is Eliza Monroe. I was born with albinism.
\nBecause of how I looked, my biological parents chose not to raise me. I entered the foster system before I ever learned what the word belonging meant.<\/p>\n
When I was five, I lived in a children\u2019s adoption center. One afternoon, the staff planned a small pretend wedding to make us laugh. Paper decorations. Nervous smiles.
\nCaleb was the boy standing next to me.<\/p>\n
At the time, it meant nothing.
\nSoon after, we were adopted by different families, sent to different states, and life quietly pulled us apart.<\/p>\n
As I grew older, my appearance followed me everywhere. Dating was painful. I was often made to feel like love was something people had to look past in order to choose me.
\nI prayed many nights, asking God if He had created me by mistake.<\/p>\n
Then, forty years later, at a farmers\u2019 market in Phoenix, I heard someone call my name.<\/p>\n
It was Caleb.<\/p>\n
We talked for hours. And for the first time in my life, someone didn\u2019t hesitate.
\nCaleb told me I was beautiful\u2014not despite my albinism, but exactly as God made me.<\/p>\n
Today, I\u2019m married to the boy who once stood beside me as a child.<\/p>\n
I was once left behind.
\nBut God never forgot me.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t overlooked.
\nI was saved for the right moment.
\nAnd I was finally, fully chosen.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother\u2019s womb.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I grew up believing I was \u201ctoo different\u201d to ever be fully loved. Until God brought him back into my life. My name is Eliza<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viral-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2006,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004\/revisions\/2006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulescapades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}