She Was Born for a Purpose

By Janet Lohmann

Have you ever wondered:

• Why am I here on Earth?
• What is the purpose of my life?
• Why do painful and troubling things happen to me?
• Is God listening to my prayers?
• Does God even care?
• Is God today the same God of the Bible?
• Does He perform miracles and lead people as he did in the Bible ti

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: May 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9798893331080

Janet Lohmann

Janey is a faith-based certified counselor for domestic violence, drug and alcohol, and crisis intervention. She is also OES trained (Offender Employment Specialist)., founder/director of GROW ministries (Godly Restoration Outreach to Woman), and a certified non-profit manager. She is married and has seven children and nineteen grandchildren.

Book preview

Introduction

Have you ever wondered: Why am I here on Earth? Have you ever sought the Lord for your purpose in life? Maybe you have even wondered why all these painful things, these troubling things, ever happened to me. Have you ever wondered: Is God listening to my prayers? Does He even care? Have you ever wondered: Is God the same God of the Bible, performing miracles and leading people as He did in Bible times? Does He still do that today? She Was Born for a Purpose will illustrate how God uses every moment, every pain, and everything that happens to us for our ultimate purpose!

Think back about your life. Where you were born. The things in everyday life that happened to you, both good and bad. Has it ever occurred to you that nothing that happens is a mistake? It is all orchestrated by the God of this universe. And if we allow the Lord to lead us, everything that happens to us leads us to our purpose. She Was Born for a Purpose is based on the true life story of Janet Lohmann, the founder and director of a nonprofit called GROW Ministries (Godly Restoration Outreach to Women). The names have been changed to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent in the story. But it is all the true life story of Janet, the miracles, the pain, the triumphs, and the victories.

Chapter 1

He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to

the purpose of his will.

Ephesians 1:5 (ESV)

Chosen

It was June 15th, 1953, when her first cry rang out in that hospital room. She wasn’t supposed to be born at all. In fact, her mother had planned to abort her illegally in those days, but the doctor who performed those abortions was in jail for killing many babies. Her first breath was important only to God as He had a plan for her life. Her mother claimed to be an atheist because of all the pain in life she had to bear. She had come to the conclusion there must not be a God at all. She even once had a year-long perfect attendance at the local Baptist church. Little did she know at that birthing moment just how much the God of this universe loved her and had just given her a very special gift of life in that bundle of joy, that sweet little girl who one day would be a huge blessing to her. All the mother knew was pain; pain from her dad raping her almost every night from age ten to seventeen years old while her mother sat in the living room doing nothing to protect her. Her bitter heart was inevitable. She had no idea that God was trying to rescue her through this little newborn’s life.

They named her Elizabeth; Dad was a railroad engineer who worked there for many years, even though his favorite thing to do was get lost in a bottle of booze. He was a functional alcoholic for sure, raging at the children and his wife many times. His wife was a wonderful secretary to a shyster lawyer in their local town. That lawyer made it easy for the mother to sell two other children that she couldn’t abort on the black market. The dad was gone on the railroad most of the time, and it was just easier to look in the other direction while the mother planned for those children to be sold. The money would certainly come in handy anyway. But here they are now strapped with the child they couldn’t kill, so they did take care of her for nine months. When the mother decided it was time to go back to work at the lawyer’s office, she answered an ad in the local newspaper for a babysitter. When she found a babysitter, it was several miles away, and no real transportation to get Elizabeth to the babysitter. So she borrowed the lawyer’s car and met the babysitter, introduced her to Elizabeth who was now nine months old. The arrangements basically were to drop the child off on a Monday and pick her back up on Friday because she couldn’t come and go every single day without a car. The babysitter agreed and was overjoyed because she had been praying for a little girl to take care of, and now she had one. The following Monday, Elizabeth and her mother showed up to drop her off with the arrangements to pick her back up on Friday. Pearl, the babysitter’s name, and Charlie, her husband, were thrilled to have a baby in the house. They had been praying for a little girl to take care of since they had none of their own. Their hearts quickly fell in love with this precious gift of God. It was actually going to be hard to give her up on Friday. But they knew that she would be back the following Monday and they would have another week with her.

When Friday came, there were no phone calls. There was no notice. There was no one. No one to show up to pick up Elizabeth. The phone number they were given as a contact in case of emergency was disconnected. Pearl and Charlie were wondering what on Earth was going on. They had no other contact information except that phone number. Giving grace in their hearts and minds possibly there was a miscommunication. Maybe there was car trouble and the mother of Elizabeth couldn’t call. They decided to just be patient and see if maybe she would show up on Saturday to pick up Elizabeth. But just like they hoped and feared, there was no phone call on Saturday. There was no one on Sunday. Weeks went by with no contacts at all. It was pretty obvious nobody was going to come and get Elizabeth. But they were about to go on a vacation outside the state; they didn’t want to get in trouble taking Elizabeth with them. They had heard of a good orphanage in the town nearby. So they called and made arrangements for Elizabeth to go there and stay while they were out of town. It was their heart’s desire that when they returned from vacation, Elizabeth would still be there, and they could take her home as their own little girl. They gave the orphanage all the information that they had about the little girl and her parents and told them that they would be back in two weeks.

Chapter 2

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17 (NIV)

Vacation wasn’t quite the same that year because while they were nowhere near home, their hearts were actually with Elizabeth. They hadn’t really discussed it, but they both knew that the other wanted Elizabeth to still be in the orphanage when they returned home. How could someone just abandon a child with no word about why? Was it an answer to prayer? God really heard them that they wanted to take care of a little girl, and now they had the opportunity? Maybe. Time will tell.

Two weeks passed, and it seemed like ten years when they were finally on their way back home. Wondering what they would find when they called the orphanage, their hearts were anticipating meeting up with Elizabeth again. Once they unpacked their suitcases, they looked at each other and smiled.

Charlie said to Pearl, You want to call the orphanage and see if Elizabeth is still there?

Grinning from ear to ear, Pearl said, I sure do.

The phone call was made, and Elizabeth was still there. They could come and pick her up. They got back in the car, and they rushed as quickly as they could in their 1951 Willis Jeep to pick up Elizabeth. The orphanage informed them they could not find the mother and father. But they had found a grandmother that worked at a local hardware store and they gave Charlie and Pearl her name.

A few days passed before they even considered calling the grandma. They wanted to keep Elizabeth. What would they do if the grandmother wanted to come and get her? What was the right thing to do? They knew they had to make the call! It was the hardest call that Pearl had ever made in her whole life, but she had to do it. The grandmother was thrilled to hear from them. She told the whole story of the dysfunctional family of her son and his wife. She was thrilled to hear they were a good Christian couple who had been praying to take care of a little girl and now had Elizabeth in their home. She told them to keep her, take care of her, and love her. She asked permission to be in Elizabeth’s life also. She said that she would love to get together for Christmas and birthdays and that they were welcome to come down to the store that she worked at from time to time and let her see Elizabeth as she grew up.

It was a joyous occasion. Charlie and Pearl had a little girl now that they had been praying to take care of. They were glad that they had made that phone call. And now things were settled.

One day, a dreaded phone call came in. It was Elizabeth’s mother. Grandma had shared the contact information, and she wanted to see her. So arrangements were made to meet her in the town square of the city they lived in. Elizabeth never knew who they were talking to. But it was arranged that money would be sent to Elizabeth’s mother so they could keep the little girl they had fallen in love with.

Charlie was given a great opportunity for a new job many miles away in another town. They searched for a house and found one. Charlie started his new job driving a truck for an oil company. It was exciting for Charlie and Pearl to announce that they had a little girl now named Elizabeth in their home. They would have to tell their son, who was off to the Marines’ boot camp.

As Elizabeth began to grow, she loved to collect little dolls. After putting all the dolls in the baby buggy, Elizabeth would dress up in a cute little dress. Elizabeth loved dressing up in dresses; it made her feel special. She would take the dolls and the baby buggy outside and go for a walk up and down the sidewalk. One day, the little girl across the street, who happened to be the exact same age as Elizabeth, came outside, and they started to play dolls together. The little girl from across the street was named Sally. Sally and Elizabeth became best friends. It only took a short time for Elizabeth to collect twelve dolls. She loved to line them up against her bedroom wall and walk up and down and preach to them she would tell them what good little girls they were and how God had plans for them.

One winter day, when the sun was shining and the snow was fresh, Elizabeth asked her mom if she could go over to Sally’s house. Pearl said yes, of course, because she knew how much they loved to play together. So Pearl stood in the doorway to watch Elizabeth walk across the yard to Sally’s house. Suddenly, Elizabeth fell face-first into the snow out in her front yard. Crying like any little girl would she went running back to her mother. Pearl’s hands, warm as a bonfire, pushed away the snow from Elizabeth’s cold face. Even though Elizabeth was only three years old, that beautiful feeling of those warm hands on her freezing face made her realize how much her new mom loved her.

When spring came that year, there was a new member in the house, Bubbles, a calico cat that Elizabeth quickly fell in love with. The cat was even more fun to dress up than the dolls. She would put a bonnet and brand-new outfit on Bubbles. And off they would go, walking the baby buggy.

One night, when it was time to go to bed, Pearl told Elizabeth that she needed to get right to sleep before the Sandman came. Elizabeth wanted to know about this Sandman. Pearl told her that he would go around spreading sand in little children’s eyes to make them sleepy. So Pearl said she needed to get right to sleep before that happened. They kiss goodnight, and Elizabeth lay there thinking about the Sandman, wondering what he looks like. Did he carry a big bag of sand? Would he show up in a truck? How would he put sand in little kids’ eyes? So, out of curiosity, she snuck over to the window, sat there, and looked out the window, watching for the Sandman. Before she knew it, she was too tired to stay up until he came, so she snuck back to bed and went to sleep that night. She knew that her mom and dad would not let a Sandman in to put sand in her eyes; she felt safe.

Elizabeth and Sally like to go next store to Mrs. Kindleberger’s house. She was old and had no children of her own, but she sure made yummy cookies. And they both went over there often to snatch up some cookies and sit on the porch with her and sing songs.

One of Elizabeth’s favorite outings was to go to the A&W root beer stand. She loved those little baby root beers. Sometimes, even her dad would give her a drink from his huge mug. She felt loved and special when he would allow her to drink from his mug of root beer.

One night, when she was kind of crying, she said, Can we go get a root beer? as they all piled in the car.

Mom said, You gotta stop crying if we’re gonna go get that root beer.

Wiping away the tears, Elizabeth said, But I’m not crying!

Off they went to get her favorite root beer.

Chapter 3

The heart of man plans his way,

but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

One night at the dinner table, Mom and Dad announced to Elizabeth that they were going to be moving from that house to another town. Elizabeth was only three years old, too young to understand they were going to have to sell that house so Elizabeth’s biological mother could be paid to stay away. Pearl had suggested that she tell Sally and Sally’s mom that they were going to have to move away. It was a sad time in Elizabeth’s heart; Sally was her best friend! Even though Elizabeth was only three years old, she wondered if she’d ever find another friend exactly like Sally to play dolls with, to play with the cat, to have fun with. Would she ever see Sally again? Finally, the moving day came; the house was sold, the furniture was packed up in a big, huge truck, and they moved to a smaller town in a big, huge house. Elizabeth really didn’t like that house much because there was no one to play with nearby.

Her mom was deathly afraid of mice. Once in a while, there were mice in that house. One day there was a mouse that was caught in the trap. Her mother saw it in the trap in the basement and went running up the stairs screaming. Elizabeth thought it was funny that her mom was running from a dead mouse.

So she picked up the trap and asked her mom, Is this what you are screaming about?

Her mother ran away. When Dad got home that night, Elizabeth was reprimanded for being such a smart alec. But she really wasn’t afraid of that mouse; besides, it was dead! The house didn’t have a big, long wall to line up her dolls and tell them about God, so Elizabeth stopped preaching to her dolls. It was only a short time later that it was announced that they were moving again, this time not in the city. They were going to be moving to the country. And Elizabeth was going to have a neighbor girl to play with again. Because her dad was gonna be working for the dad of this other little girl, and now she could make friends. She’d never lived in the country; what was that going to mean? But she was excited to find out!

When moving day came, Elizabeth was excited to meet her new friend. Her name was Roxy, and she was fun, and she only lived a little ways away. The house was huge: four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a full basement. Two living rooms and a huge kitchen. There was a chicken coop outside and a huge garden area. Soon, the chicken coop was full of chickens; it was one of Elizabeth’s favorite things to do: go collect the eggs. Her mom didn’t like putting her hand underneath that chicken while she was sitting on the eggs, but Elizabeth liked to do it. So, Elizabeth collected all the eggs. She didn’t even mind it when her dad butchered one of the chickens. He chopped the head off, and she would go get the flopping body and take it to her mom, who would dip it in hot boiling water and take the feathers off; she loved helping her mom and dad.

Roxy had sisters, two of them who are older. Roxy had an outside playhouse with dolls and furniture, a table and chairs for tea parties; this was a great friend. Elizabeth’s dad worked for Roxy’s dad. The two families became good close friends. There were many nights of card playing when their moms and dads would get together; the girls would have a great time. Elizabeth’s first sleepover at five years old was at Roxy’s house. Roxy had a huge six-bedroom home; they could almost get lost in it. So, playing hide and seek was great fun! One day, Roxy’s mom and dad wanted to know if Elizabeth could go to church