Life Snapshot > Meet Aban
Who am I?
Personality snapshot:
I would describe myself as “fearfully inappropriate & fabulously eccentric!”
I love fashion, colour, music, art, food.
Love For a Lifetime: How I got past the parental rejection of my childhood
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I love listening to jazz and for me a good day includes the following: chocolate cake, a good cup of mint tea, meaningful conversations, talking to Jesus, and a ride on my bike, Brigida. Yes, I named my bike. She’s SUCH a beauty!
My friends would describe me as extremely random, with an outspoken nature. Oh! I’m an utter book worm. I thoroughly enjoy reading practically anything I can get my hands on, however it is tough persevering through books I initially find boring. I’m working on that! I am passionate about many things, but I am most passionate about God. This living, breathing relationship with Jesus Christ is changing me, and it is an awesome adventure to be on.
Family History snapshot:
My family background is Iranian, but I was born in Bombay, India as my parents are originally from there and happened to be vacationing around the time I was due. However, I grew up in the Middle East in a country called Qatar. My family is probably the most unconventional Iranian family I’ve ever been around. My father, an engineer and computer nerd by profession loves math. My mother, a sweet socialite enjoys all things floral and is a giving person. Both my brother & I were raised with the idea that we could pursue whatever we wanted as long as we were just and kind to others.
Our household was a lively one. My mother loved to entertain and our huge bungalow was often filled with people as we partied regularly. My youth was spent primarily with my mother, as father had to travel to far and distant lands for work.
Growing up in Qatar was interesting; school started at six o’clock in the morning and ended by noon, so as to avoid working during the hottest times of the day. Evenings were spent either in piano, swimming or taekwondo classes. I was quite the smart little girl, and managed to convince my piano teacher that I was a lost cause. So, when the kind woman took pity on me, we would cut our class short and sip pop & eat cake! Summers were spent on short stints back to travel in India or to other Arab countries or the Mediterranean.
I equate a lot of my characteristics now with my upbringing. I went to an all girl’s British school, travelled a lot as a child & from a young age was a notorious book worm. I grew up listening to loads of Jazz & ABBA & the like. With all our travelling I inherited a taste for other cultures & people.
Issues snapshot: (Who doesn’t have issues?)
One of the biggest “issues” that has shaped my life is the day I decided to follow Christ.
I come from a staunch Zoroastrian household. My desire to follow Jesus Christ did not sit well with my very big family. It is only very recently that my family has come around to accepting who I am and my faith. I have been a Christian for nearly 10 years, and though I faced a lot of persecution and hardship, those years strengthened my faith!
Though my immediate and extended family has come around, I still from time to time struggle with desperately wanting their approval. As always God knows my need for familial relations & has provided me with a HUGE & loving family in Christ. He meets my every need.
As an Iranian women, I’ve had a lifelong struggle with men. I’ve experienced firsthand intense abuse at the hands of not only strangers, but family members as well. A fear of men continued to grow in me at a young age, as I was constantly reminded I was too outspoken, not submissive enough. This grew into the belief that I was always wrong, that any harm that I had incurred both as a child and as a young women was primarily my fault.
Only very recently have I allowed God to heal me of nearly 24 years of fear, deep insecurity and abuse. I haven’t felt this liberated in practically my entire life. Having my identity rooted in who Christ says I am is a sweet, sweet thing. In His eyes, I am beloved, righteous, & beautiful!! I am daily reminded that I am worth more than many sparrows, & that though I was heavily wronged I didn’t have to live in fear, & my identity wasn’t in my past, but rather, in who Christ says I am!
Spiritual snapshot:
As a young Christian, I had a very base understanding of Sin. I recognized that I did “bad,” that I wasn’t a “good” person, as the Bible repeatedly says that not one person is good. As I continue to mature in my faith, I am deeper in tune that I am not perfect, and everything I do that does not make much of God is an offense to Him. I have a growing thankfulness in my heart for what Jesus did on the cross for me.
In taking on my sins, my shame, He fully took on the wrath of God on Himself. The wrath & punishment that was meant for me, was taken on by a perfect Jesus. Not only did He pay for my atonement but He conquered death & rose again. Because He conquered sin & death, in Him I have freedom! I don’t think my words truly do justice to what it is that I feel & experience because of this truth.
My relationship with God, is exactly that; a relationship. I fight with God, I love God, sometimes I run…sometimes I hide (quite like the Britney Spears song). Hah! However, what makes this relationship beautiful is that one of us is Perfect; Jesus is perfect! He meets me in my deepest & most trying times, and I reap the many blessings of inviting Him into all aspects of my life.
I mean ALL. I take Him out on dates, I ask Him what He thinks of what I’m wearing. I am pursuing a life where He gets first dibs on everything, the way I spend my money, the way I choose to spend my time, friends I keep.
I get that this might sound restricting, but it is far from it. In Christ I have the most freedom I’ve experienced to just be myself. It’s mega sweet!
