{"id":2413,"date":"2020-11-17T05:35:01","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T05:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/?p=2413"},"modified":"2020-11-30T10:11:47","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T10:11:47","slug":"from-forgotten-foster-kids-to-fabulous-married-couple-the-amazing-true-story-of-alexis-and-justin-black-americas-new-youth-empowerment-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/from-forgotten-foster-kids-to-fabulous-married-couple-the-amazing-true-story-of-alexis-and-justin-black-americas-new-youth-empowerment-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"From Forgotten Foster Kids to Fabulous Married Couple: The Amazing True Story of Alexis and Justin Black, America\u2019s New Youth Empowerment Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FROM FORGOTTEN FOSTER KIDS TO FABULOUS MARRIED COUPLE: THE AMAZING TRUE STORY OF ALEXIS AND JUSTIN BLACK, AMERICA'S NEW YOUTH EMPOWERMENT LEADERS\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/media\/player\/ruwgp-f1e1cb?from=usersite&#038;skin=1&#038;share=1&#038;fonts=Helvetica&#038;auto=0&#038;download=1&#038;version=1\" height=\"122\" width=\"100%\" style=\"border: none;\" scrolling=\"no\" data-name=\"pb-iframe-player\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: left;\">Imagine if your mom was a drug addict, your dad was a drug dealer, and you had to live on the run in abandoned roach-infested houses\u2014one step away from the law. Or, what if you were tortured and abused by your biological dad for years and then later learned that you mom had committed suicide when you thought she had been killed in an accident.\u00a0 These are the true stories of Justin and Alexis Black, an amazing young married couple who overcame foster care, horrid abuse, neglect, and obstacles to graduate from college and become inspirational leaders for youth throughout America.\u00a0 On Love University, we were honored to hear their stories and how they came together to form a \u201cLove Power\u201d couple who are inspiring millions of youth through their speaking and writing\u00a0<em>(Redefining Normal: How Two Foster Kids Beat The Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness, and Love<\/em>:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.re-definingnormal.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.re-definingnormal.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605676917087000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFWEp0R0InNLdTBFYSXqTELmRYOxg\">www.re-definingnormal.com<\/a>).\u00a0 Here are some of the lessons we learned for overcoming abuse and trauma from Alexis and Justin:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: left;\">*<strong>Be intentional and love yourself first<\/strong>. Before they could come together as a young happily married couple, Justin and Alexis had to heal their own wounds. Through group and individual therapy,\u00a0 they learned that they had value and were worthy of love.\u00a0 Loving themselves first before they could fully love their partner became an important element of their mental health recovery.\u00a0 Part of being emotionally healthy is to be aware of your triggers\u2014the things that remind you of your past pain and trauma.\u00a0 Through awareness of what reactivates the pain, says Alexis and Justin, you can have clear communication with your partner and establish boundaries and respect so that mutual healing can take place in a safe and nurturing love environment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: left;\"><strong>*Let go of the past of those who hurt you<\/strong>.\u00a0 After being abused and betrayed by her biological dad for years, Alexis had thoughts of killing him.\u00a0 One night she had a knife and was looking at the back of his head, but she didn\u2019t do it. Although she felt suicidal and was hospitalized later on, she never gave up hope.\u00a0 One of the things that helped her was a beautiful song by Gospel singer, Kirk Franklin, \u201cImagine Me,\u201d which says, \u201cImagine me letting go of all the ones who hurt me \u2018Cause they never did deserve me\u2026Because of your love, fear\u2019s gone away. Can you imagine me?\u201d\u00a0 Although she experienced terrible things at the hands of her biological father, she has been able to move forward from the pain and leave it in the past. Likewise, Justin has begun to forgive his dad who let down his family many times, and now they are rebuilding their relationship.\u00a0 Forgiveness is not just for the one who did you harm, but for your own healing. It\u2019s for liberating yourself from the memory chains to the person who hurt you; it\u2019s for forgiving yourself for the past and looking forward to a bright and hopeful future.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: left;\"><strong>*Find love in the Higher.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0One of the things that saved Justin and Alexis from even more despair and even death was their Christian faith.\u00a0 Believing in a higher Nature or cause (God, spirit, destiny) is one of the most powerful aids in overcoming trauma and pain to live a loving and fearless life.\u00a0 Justin quotes one of his favorite passages from Psalms 23:\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want\u2026. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.\u201d\u00a0 When he was young, Justin says he looked up to drug dealers who gave him money; they seemed to have all the success, but were really failures in life.\u00a0 His drug-addicted\/drug-dealing parents were also not good \u201cshepherds\u201d or guides.\u00a0 The one guide who never let him down, according to Justin, was God, whose love is always faithful, kind, patient, and forgiving. Regardless of your religious or spiritual background, having a belief in something higher than yourself \u2013a benevolent and loving force that doesn\u2019t let you down\u2014is an important part of psychological healing and recovery.\u00a0 \u00a0As Justin and Alexis believe, \u201cHumans can let you down, but God never does. He will find a way for you in His own way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: left;\"><strong>*Create your new \u201cbetter normal.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 The title of Alexis\u2019s and Justin\u2019s Book is\u00a0<em>Redefining Normal<\/em>.\u00a0 In their past, their normal was defined by sexual and physical abuse, domestic violence, teen pregnancy drug abuse, poverty, aggression, and fear.\u00a0 Their advice is to create a \u201cBetter Normal\u201d\u2014raise your expectations for yourself and those you love; reverse the cycle of fear, violence, and negativity that plagues you, your family, and your community.\u00a0 One way to do this is by finding positive role models\u2014mentors who can help guide you to live a more elevated and positive life.\u00a0 Justin found successful black professionals in his college mentoring program who had higher expectations for him than he had for himself.\u00a0 Alexis found a loving foster family who adopted her at age 26 and loved her unconditionally. She changed her \u201cold normal\u201d concept of \u201cLove Hurts\u201d to \u201cLove heals, feels good, and is healthy.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Once you have raised your own standard of mental well-being, your calling is to become a healthy and positive role model for others, as Justin and Alexis are doing. This helps to create a cycle of love and emotional excellence in place of the old downward cycle of fear, despair, and failure.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: left;\">Although the love and transformation story of Justin and Alexis is unique and beautiful, it is not the only one that exists.\u00a0 Others have overcome trauma and pain to live healthy and loving lives, and so can you.\u00a0 Follow the path of Justin and Alexis and be intentional about loving yourself, let go of the past of those who hurt you, find a Higher Nature love, and create your \u201cBetter normal.\u201d If you do these things, you will be able to overcome the emotional chains that bound you and achieve your dreams of love, joy, and contribution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/loveuniversity.podbean.com\/e\/from-forgotten-foster-kids-to-fabulous-married-couple-the-amazing-true-story-of-alexis-and-justin-blackyouth-empowerment-speakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON <strong>FROM FORGOTTEN FOSTER KIDS TO FABULOUS MARRIED COUPLE: THE AMAZING TRUE STORY OF ALEXIS AND JUSTIN BLACK, AMERICA&#8217;S NEW YOUTH EMPOWERMENT LEADERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine if your mom was a drug addict, your dad was a drug dealer, and you had to live on the run in abandoned roach-infested houses\u2014one step away from the.. <span class=\"read_more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/from-forgotten-foster-kids-to-fabulous-married-couple-the-amazing-true-story-of-alexis-and-justin-black-americas-new-youth-empowerment-leaders\/\">Read more<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2413"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2422,"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions\/2422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveuniversity.love\/testsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}