Fallen: Out of the Sex Industry & Into the Arms of the Savior

by Annie Lobert

His words stung. “So you’re a thief now? Why would you do something like that? What a bad little girl. Shame on you, Annie! Stupid girl!” Surprisingly, I didn’t get a severe whooping. My punishment was worse. Dad grounded me for a full thirty days. The worst part was that it was in the middle of summer vacation! I wasn’t allowed to leave the house, not even to go into the backyard to play. Every night as I rested my head on my pillow, I felt the guilt and shame of his words cover me with more weight than my heavy blanket. Thief. Bad. Stupid. Throughout my childhood, I was lost in my father’s anger, unsure of his love for me. I felt disconnected from him, and always hoped that maybe someday a bond would develop. The absence of love I felt from my father growing up left a life-sized hole in my heart that I became quite adept at trying to fill—usually with all the wrong things.