Pattie Mallette, Justin Bieber’s mom, recently spoke at a church in Florida. She said that she was a 17 year old unwed mother who “was being pressured to have an abortion, but I chose to keep Justin.”
Pattie said that her own youth was filled with shame and confusion which led to her self-medication with drugs and alcohol and ultimately to her attempted suicide which caused her hospitalization.
She said, “I was in the hospital and none of my drug-using friends came to visit me, only John [whom she knew from a Christian teen center]. He brought me a rose and said that God told him to give it to me because this is how he sees me. I said it’s not true. I sleep around because of the shame from my childhood. There is no way I’m a rose.”
But, when she followed John’s advice and prayed for God’s forgiveness for the sins of her life, Pattie said, “My life flashed before my eyes. All the abuse, drugs and alcohol and feelings of being unloved hit me at once. Then I saw a bright, bright white light. I felt my heart being filled with gold dust. It sounds cheesy, but I felt like a huge pillar was lifted off of me.”
Pattie said that she forgave all those who injured her, including her abusive father who abandoned her, and those who sexually molested her as a child.
Only five years ago, Patty and Justin were living in low-income housing in Canada. Despite working two and even three jobs, she didn’t always know where their next meal would come from. She said that she only knew that God would keep his promise, as long as she kept her faith in him.
Pattie later launched videos of Justin’s singing performances on YouTube. The rest is history.
Pattie’s latest production is the award-winning short film Crescendo. Pattie said, “I want Crescendo to encourage young women all over the world, just like me, to let them know that there is a place to go, people who will take care of you and a safe home to live in if you are pregnant and think you have nowhere else to turn.”
See the movie trailer here and how to host a showing of it: http://www.cpcmovie.com/
