From Teen Pregnancy and Brokenness to Freedom in Christ

---

Listen to this Blog

---

My name is Marsc Danielle Mertilus, and this is my testimony of God’s grace.

A Foundation of Faith and Sacrifice

I grew up in a Catholic church and received traditional baptism and communion. My parents were immigrants from Haiti who worked extremely hard, earning very little, while raising six children across two countries. Though we lacked material resources, we were rich in love, discipline, and an understanding of the importance of education.

Choices That Led Me Down an Unexpected Path

At fifteen, I made choices that led me into a life I never intended to remain in. What I believed would be temporary became ten years of working in a strip club. Yet even in that season, God did not abandon me. During that time, I attended high school, college, and nursing school—living a double life marked by brokenness, insecurity, substance use, prostitution, and unhealthy relationships.

Motherhood in the Midst of Brokenness

I became pregnant at seventeen and gave birth to my daughter at eighteen. When she was six months old, her father was diagnosed with substance use disorder and schizophrenia, leaving him unable to help raise her. Still, God sustained us. I continued working to survive, believing in Jesus Christ even when I was not fully walking in His will. Looking back, I see that His mercy covered me long before I understood it—and His grace was already writing a different ending.

Protected by Mercy I Did Not Deserve

Even then, God’s mercy covered me. He protected me from drug overdose, deadly diseases, and situations that should have taken my life. I know today that it was only by His grace that I am here.

Leaving the Life, But Carrying the Wounds

When I left that environment after passing my nursing board exam at age 25, I realized that leaving physically did not mean I was free spiritually or emotionally. I carried deep wounds—low self-esteem, unresolved anger, promiscuity, and unhealthy patterns—into my new life. I struggled deeply. I went through therapy, but true healing required truth and surrender, both of which I initially resisted.

Freedom Requires Obedience

God showed me that freedom requires intentional obedience. I had to choose to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly—to be faithful, disciplined, and to seek the Kingdom of God first (Matthew 6:33). It was a battle. My unresolved wounds even led me into a marriage that was outside of God’s will, which eventually ended in infidelity and brokenness. Yet through it all, God remained patient and faithful. God kept me from drowning in sin.

Grace That Refused to Let Sin Define Me

What began as a mess in my youth was transformed into a testimony of grace. As I grew closer to God, I came to understand Jesus’ words in John 8:11: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.” God did not excuse my sin—but He refused to let it define who I am.

Deserving Death, Given Life Through Christ

Scripture says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and that the soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). By those standards, I should not be here. But God gave me chance after chance, not to shame me, but to save me.

Philemon 1:6 says, “I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” As I share my testimony, I now see the good God placed in me all along—not because of my choices, but because of Christ’s sacrifice.

Today, I stand on the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

I am a woman of God who prays with intention. I thank God daily for His mercy and for sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. My life is proof that survival is not the same as freedom—and that true freedom is found only in Jesus Christ.

Share this testimony with a friend 🧡 🔗