In my last blog, I talked about how many of us tend to overfunction in our relationships. Think this is a 21st century idea? Nope. Moses, the prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt was the quintessential overfunctioner. In Exodus 18:13, we see Moses acting as...
Do you over-function in your relationships? Many of us do. What do I mean by over-functioning? Before I describe over-functioning, let me describe someone who is functioning optimally. (I found these descriptions in a blog by Dr. Will Meek.) Optimal Functioning...
Submission - What the Bible Really Says Biblical Submission. This is a difficult topic. Many abusive spouses and churches take what God meant for good and twist it into something that keeps women in bondage to their abusive spouses. So, what does the Bible really say?...
In my last blog, I talked about the ways your kids have been affected by the abuse you've experienced, a difficult topic. Today, I will talk about how you can begin to help them heal from the domestic violence you have all experienced once you are no longer...
In my last blog, I talked about how seeing or experiencing domestic violence affects the lifelong health of children. Today, I explore this further. This is a tough topic, something about which no protective parent wants to think. However, I believe this is vital...
I recently heard a TedTalk given by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris that talks about how childhood trauma affects a person's health across a lifetime. Even though I have written about this before, hearing it again still shocked me....
Deciding whether to leave an abusive relationship is not an easy task. People who have never been in this situation often don't understand this. In their...
Reconciliation. What does this truly mean? Many abusers beg or demand their victims to forgive them for their past behaviors, even though they take no steps to change their future behaviors. At this point, in the abuser's mind at least, you are reconciled. They may...
Abuse victims in the church are often kept in bondage because they are told that abuse is not "biblical grounds for divorce." Leslie Vernick disagrees, (and so do I). In a recent blog, Leslie answered the question, "What are biblical grounds for divorce when there is...
In most churches, we feel we must put on a fake happy face when we walk through the doors. Are you as tired of that as I am? Pastor Ryan Paulson is too. Today I share a sermon he recently preached about depression and suicide and making the church a safe place for...
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