In Unscarred, Heather Schott shares how dark, demented, and dangerous life can be. By age 15, she was an alcoholic. By age 16, she was mixing hard drugs. By age 17, she had her first overdose. Her life was out of control and she seemed destined for destruction. A shattered family life, drugs, alcohol, and wild living all took their toll and ultimately led her to hit rock bottom—left for dead “like trash” in an abandoned apartment building for three days.
Heather’s life began to change after a small voice inside her asked these compelling questions: “Is this what you dreamed of as a little girl? Did you dream of growing up to live this kind of life? Is this what you want your purpose to be in this world? Do you really enjoy this lifestyle? Is this everything you imagined your life to be?” As the voice continued to speak and Heather began to answer these questions from her heart, she was healed from her hurt and pain, restored from her brokenness, and saw her life transformed to one of destiny and purpose.
Today, Heather lives each day in freedom, peace, and joy as she walks out her purpose with all her heart, unscarred. She is determined to live a life that leaves a legacy of love, wisdom, knowledge, and so much more—who she truly is, who God is, and all he does who faith lead her to be.
In Unscarred, Heather shares her inspiring and captivating story—the story she has shared across the nation and around the world that has changed thousands of lives and impacted countless others. No matter what life has thrown at you, now is the time for you to rise up and walk in your destiny. Today is the day to start living the life you always dreamed of living. Unscarred will help you find your way back to that life—the life you were created to live.
My life had spiraled out of control and I was being forced to confront my own inner demons . . . but by whom? I was not sure. I did not have the self-control or desire to do it on my own. I could feel something coming but did not know what. I was nervous and filled with anxiety—extreme anxiety! I felt as if everyone and everything was so far away from me. I created distance from my friends and had not shared anything personal with my family in a long time. I felt completely isolated, but I could sense somehow that my life was drastically changing and about to change even more!
One weekend I planned to go up to visit my boyfriend, Jack, at his college, and take a couple of my friends along with me. We curled our hair, put on pounds of makeup, got all “dressed up,” and headed north for a two-hour drive. When we arrived, Jack and one of his buddies, Rick, greeted us. The weekend was off to a good start when they pulled out their pipe and weed. We all sat in a circle in Jack’s dorm room and he lit the pipe and passed it to one of my friends, who then passed it to Rick. Rick handed me the pipe and that’s when it happened . . . somehow, my life was hijacked!
The whole room paused. When I say paused, I mean paused! Everyone was completely silent and looked frozen! It was as if someone had hit the pause button on a movie I had been watching. Everyone appeared frozen in mid-conversation and had awkward looks on their faces. However, this was no movie . . . this was real life . . . my life!
As you might imagine, I was in shock. Just then, I heard a voice speak to me, saying, “Is this what you dreamed of as a little girl? Did you dream of growing up to live this kind of life? Is this what you want your purpose to be in this world? Do you really enjoy this lifestyle? Is this everything you imagined your life to be?” I heard all these questions, though audibly or in my head, I am not sure. I heard them loud and clear and every hair on the back of my neck and arms stood up as goose bumps covered my arms and legs! One thing was sure; these were great questions and I had never thought about them before. After all, I was still young—seventeen! However, I felt thirty, as if I had already lived so much life for one so young (which was, I began thinking, maybe not such a good thing). I actually felt exhausted, drained, and in some weird way, as if I was being awakened. Then from beneath those questions, deep within me, I noticed a small soft voice rise, saying over and over, “No, no, no, no, no.”
Suddenly, everyone snapped out of it, starting right off from where they had left off, that is, until I interrupted them, yelling, “No!”
“What do you mean, ‘No?’” they asked before mocking me and suggesting I must have already been high. As they began laughing and shoving the pipe in my face, I felt an anger different from any I had ever felt before beginning to rise up in me. I was pissed that they would not listen to me and were mocking me for trying to do a good thing by refusing their weed. They were supposed to be my friends and hear me out! Quitting drugs was actually the right thing to do, so why were my friends not supporting me? I was not criticizing their decision, just hoping for support for mine. Though I was seated right there with them, I suddenly felt completely separate from them. Indignation and strength rose up in me.
“I quit! I’m done with this! No more!” I said in response to their ridicule before standing up and leaving the circle.
“You know you’ll be right back here with us next weekend, doing the same thing, so you might as well come back over here,” one of them said. “You seriously think you’re just gonna quit after years of doing this? Come on, chill out and come smoke with us.”
“I told you, I’m done! And I won’t be back here next weekend doing this with you! I’ll prove it to you!”
My competiveness had kicked in for a good cause and I could not wait to prove all of them wrong! My competiveness became my own accountability. I had no support system. I would not have known what to tell anyone anyway. Surely I was not going to tell my parents. I had been a mess for years! I mean, I obviously had not planned to do this on my trip to see my boyfriend at college. Where had my newfound strength and desire to do the right thing come from? Was this just a pride thing? I could not tell. (Though had it been up to my pride to get me through quitting, I would have taken it!) I knew it was something else; I just could not put my finger on it. I had no explanation, I was just... done.
Returning home from that weekend, I was filled with so many new questions: What just happened? Whose words were those? What is going on in my life? Who am I?