I hear his scream. The scream of little boy who needed his mama, who was lost in the land of her own grief, much like those who inflicted this grief upon her. About a year ago I was sitting in a coffee shop in Old Town Alexandria, VA, staring at a letter I had beenContinue reading “7 Years Later: Living In A Heart Replaced”
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What Nobody Tells You About Complicated Grief: Jesus Shows Up
Half my life ago I was sitting on a church bench talking to my favorite person in the world about something only a14 or 15 year old kid might think is a big deal. He jokingly told me “you’re going to be my greatest cross as a priest.” While I’ll never know for sure whatContinue reading “What Nobody Tells You About Complicated Grief: Jesus Shows Up”
End of Beginning
I once had a friend who saw I was sad, when no one else cared to look. He noticed when I stopped smiling though I wouldn’t dare tell him why. Little did I know this friend would be there for me at a time when I stopped trusting most others just a little while later.Continue reading “End of Beginning”
Songs for Healing Sheep
Link to playlist on Amazon Music https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/5bd4da421a8c423a8b467d4f47e15419sune?ref=dm_sh_RMObX1m01XFDIsZp2rzlwfAGP A list of songs that I’ve resonated with personally and I believe express the profound beauty (and some of these just utter restlessness) of the human heart as created in the image and likeness of God Hello My Old Heart by The Oh Hellos Talk by Coldplay WhoContinue reading “Songs for Healing Sheep”
Thursday, April 3
On Thursday April 3, 2014, freedom had arrived. It was a date I had looked forward too ever since my parent’s divorce just over four years earlier. It represented an escape from court mandated custody arrangements that I absolutely despised. Not so much because of what they dictated, but because of what they represented, theContinue reading “Thursday, April 3”
What Happens When You Come Forward: A Break in the Communal Delusion
What I underwent was hidden in plain sight. It took place in the environment that was created by the very people who displayed conflicting responses when the veil was lifted. Just as the abuse had communal effects, so it had communal causes.
My Story-An Interview with Deacon Kevin Stephenson
This past December I had the privilege of sharing my story with Deacon Kevin Stephenson from the Diocese of Tulsa, Executive Director of St. Augustine Behavioral Health System, and President of Faith Based Films LLC. Listen to my story below!
This is what my body was made for: The Redemptive Nature of Childbirth
Childbirth is one of the most joyful and difficult experiences that life has to offer. For certain populations, particularly those with a history of trauma I’ve learned it can be even more complex. So often we read about victims of physical or sexual abuse being especially sensitive to touch and physical closeness. But have weContinue reading “This is what my body was made for: The Redemptive Nature of Childbirth”
The Healing a Holy Spouse Can Bring: An Abuse Victim’s Testament to a Christ-Centered Marriage
After experiencing sexually and emotionally abusive relationships, it seemed like my heart and mind were wired for skepticism and distrust. I kept most in my life at an arms length, revealing only the surface of my emotions and realities of my heart to even those I was closest to. I was comfortable in hiding. ItContinue reading “The Healing a Holy Spouse Can Bring: An Abuse Victim’s Testament to a Christ-Centered Marriage”
To the girl who had her first sexual experience at 12: He cried with you.
“Do you have any experience?… sexual experience?” I’ll never forget the night I was asked this by a man whose attention I had become emotionally dependent on over the course of the year prior. Not only was this question inappropriate for a middle aged man to be asking a teenage girl, but for me, theContinue reading “To the girl who had her first sexual experience at 12: He cried with you.”
