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In: Abuse, Bible and Theology, God's Character, God's love, Idols, Poetry, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

In my mid-teens, I wrote the following poem: The Box I locked my heart in a tin box And threw away the key. I ran from all like the fox, But someday it will return to me.   Though I lost my tin box in my flight, It returned to me to my surprise. But alas, where is the key? Without it, there is no hope for me.   So I must ask: Who has my key? Would you please return it to me? Guess who had the key? When I look through the poetry I wrote in my teens, the ones not dedicated toRead More →

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In: Abuse, Family and Friends, Grace, Suffering

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12 Grief often causes a “circling the wagons” reaction, automatically drawing together what is left. Sometimes we’d been letting the busyness of this age rob us of time with a loved one we’d always had a good relationship with. When that loved one dies, and we realize our mistake, such regret wells up, we feel compelled to warn everyone around us to stop letting busyness rob us of relationships that are far more important than the trivial things we’d pursued instead–or at least they seem so in theRead More →

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In: Abuse, Book Reviews, Prayer and Devotions

I asked Adam Graham to buy me One Mind’s Eye by Kathy Tyers for my last birthday for a couple reasons. One was, at the time, it was priced higher than I was comfortable spending on an ebook for an ordinary occasion. The second was the title reminded me of an old title of one of my books and the plot line included the use of artificial reality, as she calls it. So for once I was curious about her tech gadgets rather than simply suckered by a cute, abused orphan. Okay, so there is also an orphaned teenage girl dealing with a controlling momRead More →

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In: Abuse, God's Character, Lament

If you haven’t read the modern parable the title alludes to, it’s here: What Are You Hanging Onto? Would you ever look at a sobbing child who is being bullied at school and yell at her for crying, telling her that’s why no one likes her? Would you ever say those words to a child you love dearly and have authority over? A child who respects you and looks to you for guidance, protection, and comfort? I was that sobbing child. The person who uttered those words never remembers saying and doing such hurtful things, but those words were uttered, for they burned deep into myRead More →

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In: Abuse, Family and Friends

This one is especially for folks who experienced sexual harassment from family members as kids. I’ve been adopted into the family of God out of an abusive family culture where the preferred weapons were words. One of my male relations, we’ll call him Henry to protect the guilty, liked to use sexual words no one should ever hear from a relation. I believe he only pulled this stuff while drunk. The farthest Henry ever took it was the time he groped my breast briefly—and I slapped him hard. When I told a therapist about this stuff in detail, the therapist took it far more seriouslyRead More →