When I was in college I was the victim of sexual and physical violence. It was a difficult process of moving from victim to survivor and I wish that there had been resources to help me. I blamed myself for many years. As I began to understand what this was all about, I realized that for a few years before that and many years after, I had allowed men to treat me like an object, because I didn’t know it should be different. I never would have believed that the joy you see in this picture was possible.
But here’s the thing … I was raised in a Christian home. I had a mom and dad who were Christians and loved me deeply! We weren’t rich, but I always had everything that I needed. I always had friends. I went to a Christian college and then to Seminary. No one would have guessed that this could happen to me. Many times I struggled to find confidence in who God created me to be. I didn’t really know how to study the Bible. Don’t get me wrong, I did read my Bible, I just didn’t know how to study it! I learned many of those things in college that still help me today. But the other side of this, I believed that if I had done something different, this wouldn’t have happened. I believed that it was my fault that this was happening. But, as I found out many years later … it wasn’t my fault. Sometimes God allows us to go through hard things to teach us things, and so that we can teach others. I sure am glad that He is there to walk with me through every thing I go through in life.