June 24: A Teen’s Compassionate X-Factor

When Rachel Crow was born a “crack baby” due to prenatal cocaine exposure, few would have imagined she might become a 13-year-old singing sensation on TV’s The X-Factor.

“She actually lived in a crack house and suffered a lot of abuse,” Rachel’s adoptive mother, Barbara Crow, told The New York Post.  Crow and her husband, Kelly, adopted Rachel at six months through Colorado Social Services.  The identity of her birth parents is unknown. Despite her troubling past, Rachel remains relatively unaffected.

“She never looks at her past in a sad way,” Barbara says.  “She looks at it as that is what made her the person she is.”

That past has also made her concerned about the future welfare of other children.  In the aftermath of her TV exposure, Rachel hopes to get the opportunity to help other foster kids.

“I want to build a foundation that makes them feel good about themselves—whether they want to sing, [play] sports, or go to Harvard,” Crow declares.

Don’t let a difficult past pull you down.  Rather, use your experience facing prior difficulties to encourage and lift others up.

Our competence is from God.  (2 Corinthians 3:5)

Encourage us, Jesus, to see beyond our own limitations.