• confession,  Forgiveness,  freedom,  Heart,  Self Awareness,  Self-forgiveness,  Shame & Guilt

    Three Questions That Lead to Self Forgiveness

    After a decade of no contact, my sixteen year old daughter lived with her father for about six months.  While I didn’t sleep a full night during that time, she seemed happy for the first three.  After that, things began to go south rather quickly, and soon, she came home, to both of our relief.  One day soon after, while we were at the grocery store, she mentioned that her whole life she had assumed that our divorce was her fault.  She had never mentioned this to me, the idea that somehow my divorce from an abuser could be laid at her feet.  But before I could begin my strenuous objections…

  • abuse
    abuse,  abuser,  Abusive Parenting

    Child Abuse: How God Healed a Tragic Story

    Abuse has effects that can take years to heal if they ever do. I know that for, me, healing from abuse has taken quite a journey of searching. And so I have a confession to make. Good stories make me weep. At the movies, I am a crier. My healing journey from abuse has made me susceptible to emotions of all kinds. My kids like to watch me watch a movie. They nudge their elbow into each other’s sides and nod their heads in my direction the moment a tear starts to slip down my cheek.  I hold off as long as I can, but I don’t go into a…