Do you sometimes struggle with trust issues like me? Abuse survivors often grow up expecting others to hurt us so we have trouble developing trust, or we hand over our trust prematurely to people who don’t earn or deserve it. Early in my recovery, it was hard to trust God. More recently, I have trusted … Continue reading How Can Dolphins Help Abuse Survivors Understand Prayer and Trust?
Father Knows Best was a popular television show when I was a child. It was about the Anderson family whose dad offered sage advice whenever one of his children encountered a problem. The image of a caring father who acts in the best interest of his children is an anomaly for victims of sexual abuse … Continue reading How Knowing God as “Father” Informs My Understanding of Prayer
If you have always remembered your abuse and hated your abuser, this post may seem strange to you. That was not the case with me. For years my abuser was my hero. In fact, I didn’t remember my abuse until after it was disclosed that he had also abused my child! My suppressed memories resurfaced … Continue reading What Prayer for Sexual Abuse Taught Me About Significance
As a prayer counselor prayed with me after my mother’s death, I remember how shocked I was to hear myself exclaim, “My god had no arms!” It came in response to a childhood memory of my mom accidentally scalding me as she washed my hair. Such words would normally never come from my lips, but … Continue reading My “god” had No Arms!
