Abuse is rampant, for both women and men. There are so many forms. Emotional. Physical. Sexual. (Often not mentioned in certain lists: Spiritual) The statistics are so painful. (Please, read these) Millions and millions. Each minute of every day. Getting out of an abusive relationship is brutally hard. The ingredients are toxic and paralyzing–the potential […]
Read Morei did a series of conversations in 2009 and 2010 called out of the darkness. it had honest stories from my friends on topics that often never get talked about in church. if you didn’t read them, here they are: self-injury brave thoughts from a former abuser hope & healing from sexual addiction the lingering […]
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one of my hopes on the carnival blog has always been to help people feel a little less alone on their journey, whatever that looks like. i have met so many great people along the way and am so thankful for the time you take each week to read my l-o-n-g posts. as part of […]
Read Morelast summer i had a series of interviews on the carnival called “out of the darkness.“ i have been meaning to get a few more of these interviews up for a while and am finally getting around to it. if you are new here, you may have missed some of the series of interviews i’ve […]
Read Moreif there’s one thing that really pisses me off in this world it’s abuse. to me, abuse is when people use their power, authority, position, or strength in unhealthy damaging ways to control, harm, manipulate, and use people. abuse strips people of dignity. it confuses and hurts. it messes with our heads. it crosses socioeconomic […]
Read Morethank you all for your thoughts and love from my last out of the darkness post. i am always thankful to hear that somehow my story can offer hope to others in some small way. it is more redeeming than you know. i have appreciated this series and the wonderful stories of God-at-work-through-the-Body-of-Christ-when-it-becomes-safe-enough-for-what-is-in-the-darkness-to-come-into-the-light. this week’s […]
Read Moreit’s summer, and i’m definitely down to posting once a week at best; that’s plenty for right now. i have been in the midst of typical refuge nuttiness, which i am trying to really embrace as the glory and beauty of real community together. life in the trenches, healing, growing, learning, giving, stretching is hard […]
Read Morei remember about 4 1/2 years ago when a leader of the food issues group at a celebrate recovery group i was co-leading highlighted how little people understood about eating disorders. you see, after every one of our meetings we had something called “solid rock café” where there would be all kinds of food and […]
Read Moreso far we’ve heard 3 out of the darkness stories – self-injury, brave thoughts from a former abuser, and hope and healing from sexual addiction. i am thankful for my courageous friends who are willing to share their stories here on the carnival for the benefit of others. one of the worst things about pain […]
Read Morethanks all for your comments & emails from the last couple of “out of the darkness” posts. it is always so beautiful to me to have people connect with other’s stories both personally and spirituallly. and while we may not have had the same experience exactly, the part that we can probably most connect to […]
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